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THE    HISPANIC    SERIES 

UNDER  THE  EDITORSHIP  OF 

John  D.  Fitz-Gerald,  Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  SPANISH,  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
MEMBER  OF  THE  HISPANIC  SOCIETY  OF  AMERICA 
CORRESPONDIENTE  DB  LAS  REALES  ACADEMIAS 
ESPANOLA,  DE  LA  HISTORIA  DE  MADRID,  Y  DE 
BUENAS   LETRAS   DE   BARCELONA 


SPANISH    IN   THE    HIGH    SCHOOLS 
A   HANDBOOK   OF  METHODS 


SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 
A  HANDBOOK  OF  METHODS 

WITH   SPECIAL   REFERENCE   TO 
THE   JUNIOR    HIGH    SCHOOLS 


BY 
LAWRENCE  A.   WILKINS,   A.M. 

HEAD   OF  THE   DEPARTMENT  OF  SPANISH 

DeWITT  CLINTON   HIGH   SCHOOL,   NEW  YORK   CITY 

IN  CHARGE  OF  MODERN  LANGUAGES  IN 

THE    NEW    YORK    CITY    HIGH    SCHOOLS 

CORRESPONDING   MEMBER  OF  THE  HISPANIC  SOCIETY 

OF  AMERICA 


ov  iroW  dXXa  ttoXv 


BENJ.   H.   SANBORN   &   CO. 

CHICAGO  NEW   YORK  BOSTON 

1918 


• 


Copyright,  1918, 
BY  BENJ.   H.  SANBORN   &  CO. 


So 
MY   WIFE 


5545»9 


PREFACE 

While  this  volume  bears  the  title  Spanish  in  the  High 
Schools,  With  Special  Reference  to  the  Junior  High  Schools, 
I  believe  that  most  of  the  problems  and  the  methods  here 
delineated  for  the  teaching  of  Spanish  apply  equally  well 
to  the  Junior  High  School,  to  the  present  four-year  High 
School,  and  to  the  new  Senior  High  School. 

To  general  bibliography  on  the  teaching  of  modern  lan- 
guages little  reference  has  been  made,  for  it  is  presumed 
that  the  reader  is  fairly  well  acquainted  with  the  standard 
books  on  the  subject.  Of  bibliography  concerned  espe- 
cially with  methods  of  teaching  Spanish  none  has  been 
given,  as  none  exists. 

To  the  friends  who  have  contributed  in  various  ways  to 
the  preparation  of  this  book  I  here  express  my  sincere 
thanks.  To  Professor  John  D.  Fitz-Gerald  I  am  indebted 
for  assistance  much  exceeding  that  usually  rendered  by 
a  general  editor  to  an  author.  Without  his  previous 
knowledge,  I  here  record  my  keen  appreciation  of  his 
suggestions  and  of  his  aid  in  obtaining  several  items  of 
importance  which  I  have  used. 

Lawrence  A.  Wilkins. 
New  York  City, 
April,  1918. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Dedication v 

Preface vii 

CHAPTER  I 
Introduction i 

CHAPTER  II 
Why  Teach  Spanish  ? 7 

CHAPTER  III 

The  Present  Progress  of  Spanish  in  the  Schools   .      35 

CHAPTER  IV 

The  Preparation  of  the  Secondary  School  Teacher 

of  Spanish 47 

CHAPTER  V 
The  Aim  in  Teaching  Spanish 64 

CHAPTER  VI 

The  Method  to  be  Used  in  Teaching  Spanish  .        .      66 

CHAPTER  VII 

The  Course  of  Study  in  Spanish  for  ti  e  Junior  High 

School  and  Methods  of  Teaching  It  .        .        •      73 

ix 


X  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VIII  page 

The  Relation  of  This  Course  of  Study  to  That  of  the 
Four-year  High  School  and  to  That  of  the  New 
Senior  High  School 96 

CHAPTER  IX 
The  Organization  of  Classes 113 

CHAPTER  X 
The  Recitation 129 

CHAPTER  XI 
Methods  and  Devices 134 

CHAPTER  XII 
A  Miscellany  of  Suggestions 157 

CHAPTER  XIII 
Club  Work  in  the  Department  of  Spanish       .        .     190 

CHAPTER  XIV 
The  Modern  Language  Teacher  of  "  Superior  Merit"      198 

CHAPTER  XV 

Handicaps  to  the  Teaching  of  Spanish  in  the  United 

States 206 

CHAPTER    XVI 
Spanish  as  a  Foundation  for  Latin    ....     225 

CHAPTER  XVII 

Bibliography  and  Other  Aids  for  the  Teacher  of 

Spanish 24.Q 


SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

A  HANDBOOK  OF  METHODS 

With  Special  Reference  to  the  Junior  High  Schools 


CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTION 

In  the  year  191 3  there  began  in  the  schools  of  the 
United  States  a  remarkable  increase  of  interest  in 
the  study  of  Spanish.  That  interest  has  been  sus- 
tained and,  in  fact,  heightened  many-fold  since  then 
in  institutions  ranging  from  the  elementary  school 
to  graduate  courses  in  the  university.  One  of  the 
largest  high  schools  of  New  York  City *  had  in 
February,  1914,  198  students  in  all  the  classes  in 
Spanish ;  in  September,  1914,  377 ;  in  February,  191 5, 
640;  in  September,  191 5,  774;  in  February,  1916, 
994;  in  September,  1916,  1240;  in  February, 
1917,  1528;  and  in  September,  1917,  1604.  The 
steadily  mounting  number  of  students  electing  Span- 
ish in  this  school  has  had  its  parallel  in  other  schools 
throughout  the  land.    Spanish  has  come  to  stay  in  the 

1  DeWitt  Clinton  High  School,  which  had  a  total  enrollment 
October  31,  191 7,  of  5228  students. 


2  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

curricula  of  our  schools.  The  desire  to  study  that  lan- 
guage is  no  mere  passing  whim,  but  is  founded  on  the 
soundest  educational  basis,  as  will  be  shown,  it  is 
hoped,  in  the  later  discussions  of  this  book. 

Almost  exactly  coincident  with  this  renascence  of 
Spanish  has  been  the  movement  to  reorganize  our 
school  system  so  as  to  provide  for  the  Junior  High 
School,  known  also  as  the  Intermediate  School.  In 
general,  as  is  well  known,  this  reorganization  provides 
for  six  years  of  the  elementary  school  course,  three 
years  of  Junior  High  School  work  (seventh,  eighth, 
and  ninth  years),  and,  finally,  three  years  in  the 
Senior  High  School.  There  are,  of  course,  many 
variations  of  this  scheme  advocated  and  practiced, 
but  in  any  case,  the  claims  made  for  the  Junior  High 
School  are,  "  first,  that  it  provides  better  for  indi- 
vidual differences ;  second,  that  it  makes  easier  the 
transition  to  the  high  school ;  third,  that  it  decreases 
the  number  of  pupils  eliminated  from  the  school 
system ;  and,  fourth,  that  it  furnishes  an  opportunity 
for  various  reforms  in  instruction."  This  statement 
is  made  by  Professor  Thomas  H.  Briggs  of  Teachers 
College,  Columbia  University.1 

The  validity  of  any  one  of  these  claims  (all  of 
which  have  been  made  valid  in  the  opinion  of  those 
who  have  had  most  experience  with  this  new  type 
of  school)  would  justify  this  innovation  in  our  edu- 
cational system.  In  the  fourth  claim  made  above, 
the  teachers  of  modern  languages  are  particularly 

1  In  Chapter  VI  of  the  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Educa- 
tion for  the  Year  ending  June  30,  1914 ;  Washington,  Govern- 
ment Printing  Office,  191 5. 


INTRODUCTION  3 

interested,  for  they  see  here  an  opportunity  for 
one  of  the  "various  reforms  in  instruction"  which 
they  have  long  desired,  namely,  an  earlier  beginning, 
than  has  been  possible  heretofore,  of  modern  foreign 
language  work,  under  proper  conditions.  The  intro- 
duction of  instruction  in  foreign  languages  in  the 
seventh,  eighth,  and  ninth  years  of  the  school  work 
is  justified  in  this  manner:  A  foreign  language  is 
chiefly  a  habit-forming  subject  rather  than  a  fact 
subject.  The  plastic  mind  of  the  child  of  twelve, 
thirteen  and  fourteen  years  of  age  is  most  easily  and 
lastingly  molded  and  shaped  in  the  thought  habits 
of  the  foreign  tongue.  It  seems  to  follow,  then,  that 
if  a  foreign  language  is  begun  in  the  Junior  High 
School  under  properly  adapted  instruction,  that 
language  may  much  more  certainly  be  made  a  part 
of  the  pupil's  mental  habit  and  mental  life.  And 
Spanish  teachers  are  most  especially  interested  in 
this  opportunity  for  reforms  in  instruction  because 
they  regard  their  claim  that  Spanish  be  granted  in 
all  types  of  schools  a  place  equal  to  that  now  occupied 
by  French  or  German  as  a  reform  movement  and 
therefore  most  fittingly  connected  with  the  new 
Junior  High  School. 

So  then,  if  the  acquisition  of  Spanish,  so  much 
sought  by  North  Americans  young  and  old,  is  to 
be  accomplished  in  the  most  effective  and  successful 
manner,  its  study  should  be  begun  in  the  Junior 
High  School.  Thus  are  seen  to  be  most  happily 
linked  together  two  of  the  most  noteworthy  and  most 
vital  movements  within  recent  years  in  the  educa- 
tional circles  of  this  country  —  the  study  of  Spanish 


4  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

and  the  Junior  High  School.  Therefore,  in  discussing 
Spanish  in  the  High  Schools  it  has  seemed  to  the 
writer  both  suitable  and  necessary  to  approach  this 
subject  from  the  standpoint  of  the  Junior  High 
School,  the  school  that  probably  offers  most  oppor- 
tunities for  putting  into  practice  new  and  progressive 
ideas.  Hence,  the  sub-title  With  Special  Reference 
to  the  Junior  High  School.  And  with  the  desire  to 
make  the  discussion  as  practical  and  helpful  as  pos- 
sible, the  author  has  thought  it  pertinent  to  make  it 
bear  directly  upon  methods  of  teaching  Spanish. 
Hence,  the  second  title,  A  Handbook  of  Methods. 

But  the  question  may  at  once  arise,  Why  present 
a  book  devoted  especially  to  methods  of  teaching 
Spanish  ?  Some  might  consider  it  at  least  partially 
justifiable  to  answer,  Because  no  one  has  before 
written  upon  this  particular  theme,  which  daily  is 
growing  in  importance.  And  previous  paragraphs 
are  surely  suggestive  of  other  reasons  that  might  be 
advanced  for  this  venture.  But  more  specifically 
the  answer  to  the  query  is :  The  problems  of  the 
Spanish  teacher  differ  sufficiently  from  those  of  the 
teacher  of  French  and  German  to  warrant  a  con- 
sideration apart  and  to  make  of  probable  value  an 
attempt  to  delineate  and  solve  them.  To  elucidate : 
The  recent  very  marked  increase  in  the  number  of 
people  demanding  opportunities  to  study  Spanish 
equal  to  those  offered  for  the  study  of  French  and 
German  has  been  accompanied  by  a  lack  of  trained 
teachers  of  Spanish.  The  result  has  been  lack  of 
orientation,  direction,  and  organization.  A  hit-or- 
miss  state  of  affairs  in  Spanish  instruction  has  pre- 


INTRODUCTION  S 

vailed  in  high  school  and  even  in  college  work.  This 
condition  has  been  aggravated  until  recently  by  a 
scarcity  of  proper  textbooks,  especially  for  beginners. 
This  scarcity  is,  however,  being  rapidly  remedied  by 
the  various  publishers  of  modern  language  books. 

The  teacher  of  Spanish,  fortunately  or  unfortu- 
nately, has  no  traditions  to  follow,  so  new  is  his  field 
of  £  labor.  Almost  no  courses  in  material  for,  and 
methods  of,  teaching  Spanish  are  offered  by  the  col- 
leges and  universities  of  this  country  or  any  other.1 
On  the  other  hand,  those  who  teach  French  or 
German  have  for  their  work  numerous  aids  provided 
for  them.  Courses  in  methods  of  teaching  those 
languages  are  offered  in  many  institutions.  Like- 
wise, opportunities  for  teaching  French  or  German 
are  given  in  the  practice  schools  connected  with  the 
best  normal  schools  and  teachers'  colleges.  Books 
on  methods,  modern  language  associations  with  their 
journals  and  bulletins,  realia  and  illustrative  material, 
charts  and  maps  —  all  devoted  to  French  and  Ger- 
man —  are  available  in  plenteous  supply  and  va- 
riety for  apprentice  teacher  and  expert  instructor. 

Aside  from  these  more  general  considerations  it 
should  be  pointed  out  that  in  the  Spanish  language 
itself  inhere  difficulties  and  peculiarities  that  justify 
a  separate  survey  and  exposition  of  methods  of  pre- 

1  The  author  knows  of  only  the  following  courses  in  methods 
in  Spanish :  Those  given  by  Professor  Charles  Philip  Wagner, 
University  of  Michigan,  Professor  W.  S.  Hendrix,  University 
of  Texas,  and  Mr.  Max  A.  Luria,  Hunter  Evening  College, 
New  York  City.  The  authorities  of  Teachers  College,  Columbia 
University,  are  contemplating  the  establishment  of  a  course 
in  methods  in  Spanish.     See  Addenda. 


6  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

senting  the  language  to  the  learner.  One  need  but 
mention,  for  instance,  the  remarkably  frequent  and 
unusually  intricate  idioms  or  locutions  that  occur 
in  Spanish  or  the  great  wealth  of  the  Spanish 
vocabulary. 

To  help  shake  off  the  apologetic  role  too  long 
played  by  Spanish  teachers,  to  take  stock  of  those 
compelling  reasons  that  lie  at  the  basis  of  the  claim 
for  an  equal  place  for  Spanish,  to  sum  up  the  present 
situation  in  regard  to  Spanish,  to  define  the  aim  of 
the  teacher  of  that  language,  to  crystallize  and  ex- 
press a  few  of  the  ideas  Spanish  teachers  long  have 
held  but  seldom  have  expressed  in  print,  to  suggest 
to  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Spanish  teacher  (the 
specialist  in  that  language  is  uniformly  enthusiastic) 
modes  of  effectiveness,  to  encourage  him  in  a  field 
of  endeavor  where  he  has  been  able  to  find  few 
rallying-points  or  few  finger-boards  pointing  the 
way,  to  give  him  practical  help  as  well  as  encourage- 
ment, is  the  fond  and  perhaps  too  ambitious  hope 
of  the  writer.  Probably  the  chief  warrant  the 
author  has  for  undertaking,  as  best  he  may,  to  do 
these  things  is  his  own  great  enthusiasm  for  things 
Spanish  and  his  experience  of  the  past  twelve  years 
as  a  teacher  solely  of  Spanish  in  high  school  and  in 
university  extension  courses  and  as  a  director  of 
modern  language  instruction.  Actual  observation 
of  the  teaching  of  Spanish  in  a  few  Intermediate 
Schools  has  been  of  help. 


CHAPTER  II 

WHY    TEACH    SPANISH  ?» 

A  knowledge  of  Spanish  has  for  the  North  Amer- 
ican youth  three  distinct  values  —  the  commercial 
(of  which  we  hear  so  much),  the  cultural  (of  which 
we  hear  so  little),  and,  most  important  of  all,  the 
politico-social  or  international  value. 

Commercial  Value  of  Spanish.  No  one  would  be 
inclined,  probably,  to  dispute  the  usefulness  of 
Spanish  to  those  engaged  in  commerce  in  the  United 
States,  especially  to  residents  of  cities  in  which 
manufacturing  or  exporting  predominates.  But  the 
belief  that  Spanish  should  be  taught  only  for  practical 
purposes  represents  a  point  of  view  that  is  either 
uninformed  or  lacking  in  perspective.  But  it  doubt- 
less is  pertinent  to  sum  up  here  what  can  be  said  in 
favor  of  Spanish  for  practical  and  commercial 
purposes.  From  1900  to  191 3  the  total  of  all  South 
American  imports  for  all  the  world  increased  from 
318  million  dollars  to  1042  millions.  This  increase 
was  at  the  rate  of  227  per  cent  as  compared  with  an 
increase  of  107  per  cent  in  our  own  imports  and  of 
100  per  cent  in  the  trade  of  the  whole  world  in  the 
same  period.     And  in  that  time  the  population  of 

1  Adapted  from  the  author's  address  on  "  The  Case  for 
Spanish  "  before  the  New  Jersey  Modern  Language  Associa- 
tion, May  5,  1917. 

7 


8  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

Spanish  America  grew  from  38  millions  to  nearly  60 
millions,  an  increase  of  about  58  per  cent  as  compared 
with  an  increase  of  28  per  cent  in  the  United  States. 
The  imports  of  South  America  in  the  most  recent 
normal  year,  1913,  averaged  $18.68  per  capita, 
comparing  with  £17.94  Per  capita  importations  into 
the  United  States.  The  average  income  of  the 
population  of  Argentina  is  well  up  to  Sir  George 
Paish's  estimate  of  the  average  income  of  the  citizens 
of  our  own  land.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  there  are 
in  Argentina  alone  three  banking  institutions  with 
larger  paid-up  capitals  than  those  of  any  bank  of  the 
United  States  and  that  Argentina  has  a  gold  coin 
reserve  of  $53  per  capita  as  compared  with  about 
$23  in  the  United  States.1  These  facts  speak  elo- 
quently of  the  purchasing  power  of  Hispanic2 
America  before  the  Great  War  began. 

Of  the  possibilities  in  the  way  of  the  future 
development  of  South  American  countries  the 
following  items  are  suggestive  3 :  Peru  is  the  size  of 
Spain,  France,  Italy,  and  Germany  combined. 
Sixty  Belgiums  could  be  contained  in  Bolivia  and 
yet  the  latter  has  only  one-third  of  Belgium's 
population.  Chile  is  as  long  as  from  New  York  to 
San  Francisco  and  as  narrow  as  Lake  Erie.  All  of 
the  United  States  except  Alaska  could  be  contained 
in  Brazil  and  there  would  still  be  a  remainder  of 

JThe  Americas,  a  monthly  magazine  published  by  the 
National  City  Bank,  from  the  numbers  of  which  for  June  and 
September,  191 6,  the  above  facts  are  taken. 

2  Hispanic  is  used  to  include  Portuguese  and  Spanish. 

3  Adapted  from  "  The  Geography  Class  "  by  Dan  Ward,  in 
the  World  Outlook  for  February,  191 5. 


WHY  TEACH  SPANISH?  9 

200,000  square  miles  of  Brazilian  territory.  There 
is  more  unexplored  country  in  Brazil  than  in  all 
the  rest  of  the  world  put  together.  Argentina  has 
progressed  more  rapidly  in  the  past  ten  years  than 
Iowa  or  Illinois  in  the  last  fifty  years-:  Buenos  Aires 
(with  1,560,163  people),  at  the  present  rate  of  in- 
crease, will  pass  Chicago  in  1930  and  be  the  second 
city  in  size  in  the  Western  Hemisphere.  On  the  bor- 
der land  between  Brazil  and  Argentina  are  the  falls  of 
Iguassu,  higher  and  wider  than  Niagara.  Four-fifths 
of  the  world's  cofTee  comes  from  Brazil,  of  which 
country  the  capital,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  has  a  population 
of  1,128,637  people.  Two  other  Hispanic-American 
cities  have  approached  the  half-million  mark  :  Mexico 
City  (with  471,066)  and  Sao  Paulo  (with  400,000) ; 
whereas  six  others  have  reached  or  passed  the  quarter- 
million  mark  :  Santiago  de  Chile  (378,000),  Montevi- 
deo (377,994),  Havana  (319,884),  Bahia  (300,000), 
Recife,  Brazil  (250,000),  and  Rosario,  Argentina 
(250,000).  Some  of  these  cities  are  very  beautiful. 
Of  the  necessity  of  a  knowledge  of  Spanish  for 
practical  purposes  among  our  own  countrymen,  the 
Pan  American  Union  of  Washington  has  this  to  say  : 

The  merchant  and  the  manufacturer  will  each  need  it 
to  thoroughly  understand  the  wants  of  his  customers  and 
cater  to  them  accordingly;  the  mechanical,  civil  or 
electrical  engineer  will  need  it  to  facilitate  and  expedite 
his  work  by  his  ability  to  come  in  closer  contact  with  the 
men  under  him ;  the  teacher  will  need  it  in  order  to  take 
up  work  in  Spanish-American  schools  where  American 
educational  methods  are  admired  and  copied ;  the  trained 
agriculturist  will  need  it  in  order  to  meet  the  great  want 


IO  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

for  scientific  farming,  so  eagerly  fostered  by  many  South 
American  governments ;  the  lawyer  will  need  it  to  familiar- 
ize himself  with  Spanish-American  legislation  and  social 
conditions,  which  will  give  him  an  invaluable  advantage 
over  his  less  fortunate  colleague. 

But  what  has  happened  in  Spanish  America  since 
the  war  has  been  in  progress  ?  Despite  the  fact  that 
the  war  caused  an  almost  complete  paralysis  of 
foreign  trade  in  South  America  for  nearly  a  year,  our 
business  with  that  continent  alone,  not  including  the 
West  Indies  or  Central  America,  showed  at  the  end  of 
June,  1917,  imports  from  there  in  the  sum  of  542 
millions  as  compared  with  391  millions  in  June, 
1916,  261  millions  in  June,  191 5,  222  millions  in  June, 

1914,  and  217  millions  in  June,  1913.  Exports 
from  the  United  States  to  South  America  totaled 
259  millions  for  the  year  ending  June,  1917,  as 
compared  with  180  millions  in  1916,  99  millions  in 

1915,  124  millions  in  1914,  and  146  millions  in  1913. 
From  June,  1914,  to  June,  1917,  the  gain  in  imports 
from  South  America  into  this  country  is  rated  at  144 
per  cent  while  the  exports  from  the  United  States  to 
South  America  in  the  same  period  show  a  gain  of  109 
per  cent.  Imports  from  the  world  into  the  United 
States  in  the  same  time  increased  106  per  cent  and 
exports  to  the  world  increased  191  per  cent.  From 
June,  191 5,  to  June,  1917,  imports  from  Central 
America  increased  from  21  to  35  millions,  or  6j 
per  cent,  and  exports  rose  from  35  to  52  millions,  or 
49  per  cent.  From  June,  1915,  to  June,  1917, 
imports  from  the  West  Indies  increased  from  211  to 
291  millions,  or  38  per  cent,  and  exports  from  100 


WHY  TEACH  SPANISH?  II 

to  230  millions,  or  130  per  cent.1  And  yet  there  are 
those  who  say  that  we  have  done  nothing  to  "  capture 
the  commerce  "  of  South  America  except  talk  about 
doing  it.  As  a  nation  almost  totally  unversed  in 
the  ways  of  foreign  commerce,  we  have  not  done 
badly.  It  is  true  that  the  nations  that  have  been 
our  competitors  for  the  trade  of  Hispanic  America 
have  been  in  some  cases  totally  removed  from  the 
field  and  in  others  badly  hampered  by  the  war. 
But  it  is  also  true  that  our  trade  with  Spanish 
America  has  been  badly  hampered  by  the  lack  of 
boats  of  cargo.  And  as  an  indication  of  the  serious- 
ness with  which  we  are  attacking  the  work  of  securing 
at  least  a  fair  portion  of  the  trade  of  the  other 
Americas,  one  is  compelled  to  note,  for  instance, 
that  the  National  City  Bank  of  New  York  now  has 
nine  branches  in  Hispanic  America  at  these  places : 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  Bahia,  Sao  Paulo,  Santos,  Monte- 
video, Buenos  Aires,  Valparaiso,  Havana,  and  San- 
tiago de  Cuba.  The  International  Banking  Cor- 
poration has  six  offices  in  Caribbean  cities. 

Mention  must  also  be  made  of  the  superb  work 
accomplished  by  the  recent  international  conferences 
such  as  the  Pan  American  Financial  Conference  of 
191 5,  the  Pan  American  Scientific  Conference  of 
1915-1916,  and  the  meetings  of  the  International 
High  Commission,  an  organization  whose  great  work 
has  just  begun.  It  is  more  than  evident  that  there 
is  in  operation  a  gradual  tightening  of  the  commer- 
cial and  economic  bonds  between  the  Spanish-  and 

1  Taken  from  the  reports  of  the  Bureau  of  Commerce  for 
June,  1917. 


12  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

Portuguese-speaking  lands  of  the  New  World  and 
our  own  land. 

One  of  the  visible  results  of  this  closer  approxima- 
tion has  been  that  in  the  city  of  New  York,  the  chief 
center  of  commerce  between  this  country  and  His- 
panic America,  business  people,  men,  women,  boys 
and  girls,  have  by  hundreds  set  about  it  in  some  way 
to  study  Spanish.  It  has  been  the  fashion  of  the 
hour  for  three  or  four  years  to  have  "  a  try  at 
Spanish".  A  longing  to  "  get  knowledge  quick  "  has 
resulted  in  plenty  of  get  rich  quick"  schemes  among 
some  of  the  so-called  professors  of  Spanish,  who,  for 
an  insignificant  sum  profess  (therefore  are  they 
professors)  to  teach  the  Spanish  language  in  thirty 
lessons  !  And  yet  the  victims  flock  to  the  "  classes" 
without  ceasing.  There  must  indeed  be  something 
very  virile  in  the  desire  to  study  Spanish  when  that 
desire  has  thus  persisted  and  increased  despite  this 
continued  preying  upon  it. 

In  the  duly  accredited  educational  institutions 
of  New  York  City  Spanish  has  taken  an  increasingly 
prominent  place.  The  largest  registration  in  the 
courses  in  the  various  languages  offered  in  Extension 
Teaching  in  Columbia  University  is  in  Spanish.1 
The  largest  and  most  faithfully  attended  classes  in 
languages  in  the  public  evening  High  Schools  — 
where  chiefly  business  people  attend  —  are  the 
Spanish  classes.  And  these  people  in  afternoon  and 
evening  courses  are  not  spending  dollars  and  weary 
hours  after  a  busy  day  simply  as  a  way  of  passing 

1  In  the  Spring  Session,  1917,  314  were  enrolled  in  Spanish 
courses,  277  in  French,  and  165  in  German. 


WHY  TEACH  SPANISH?  13 

their  time.  Their  business  demands  of  them  a 
knowledge  of  Spanish  and  they  must  get  it  as  best 
they  may,  despite  long  hours  of  work  in  the  office  or 
factory.  In  the  public  commercial  high  schools  of 
New  York  City  Spanish  so  far  outstrips  the  other 
languages  in  numbers  of  students  that  those  other 
languages  have  practically  no  significance  in  those 
schools.  This  growth  has  been  going  on  in  too 
steadily  increasing  proportions  to  be  explained  on 
the  ground  that  it  is  merely  the  fancy  of  the  moment. 
It  is  true  that  the  war  has  operated  in  obvious  ways 
to  stimulate  the  study  of  Spanish.  And  there  are 
those  who  believe  that  when  the  war  is  over  Spanish 
will  drop  out  of  our  schools  and  German  will  be  more 
than  ever  the  predominating  modern  foreign  language 
studied.  This  belief  is  parallel  to  that  one  which 
holds  that  after  the  war  we  shall  drop  out  of  the 
competition  for  the  South  American  trade  and  that 
Germany  will  again  hold  first  place  in  the  trade  of 
many  of  the  Hispanic  republics.  There  may  be  3. 
slight  cessation  in  the  present  rush  to  Spanish,  but 
who  knows  ?  May  not  the  new  relations  already 
pretty  firmly  established  with  South  America  — 
relations  of  commerce,  general  amity  and  unity  of 
interest  in  world  politics  —  may  not  these  relations 
work  rather  to  increase  the  interest  of  North  Amer- 
icans in  South  America  and  of  South  Americans  in 
North  America?  A  prophecy  expressing  the  latter 
point  of  view  surely  is  as  valuable  as  its  opposite. 
There  are  many,  too,  who  believe  that  never  again 
will  German  have  the  strong  hold  in  the  program  of 
study  in  our  institutions  that  it  has  enjoyed  in  the  past. 


14  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

But  the  present  writer  does  not  believe  that  the 
popularity  of  Spanish  depends  now  or  in  the  future 
upon  the  popularity  or  unpopularity  of  German. 

One  may  say,  then,  with  reason,  that  the  study  of 
Spanish  for  commercial  and  practical  purposes  is 
most  solidly  based  upon  business  needs.  A  knowl- 
edge of  Spanish  is  coming  to  be  as  necessary  to  the 
North  American  exporter  and  importer,  banker  and 
merchant,  as  a  knowledge  of  jobbing  or  of  stocks 
and  bonds.  And  whether  it  suits  us  or  not,  we  must 
confess  that  this  is,  after  all,  a  very  sound  foundation 
for  the  study  of  a  foreign  tongue.  Like  "  dollar 
diplomacy  "  it  has  its  eminent  usefulness  and  its  laud- 
able side.  But  the  study  of  Spanish,  to  be  of  greatest 
value,  ought  to  mean  more  than  merely  a  way  of 
increasing  one's  business  efficiency  or  earning 
power.  Fortunately,  the  acquisition  of  Spanish 
most  happily  combines  with  this  practical  value  a 
great  cultural  value  and  probably  in  such  proportion 
and  to  such  extent  as  does  no  other  foreign  language 
that  a  North  American  may  seek  to  master.  And 
amid  all  this  marked  and  growing  inclination  to 
study  Spanish  for  business  purposes,  it  is  worth 
while  to  remark,  de  paso,  that  Spanish  is  not  in  itself 
a  language  adapted  to  business  purposes.  It  has 
few  of  the  modern  technical  terms  and  ready  business 
expressions  that  English  has  so  readily  available. 
This  sonorous  "  language  of  men",  as  it  has  been 
called,  seems  in  its  structure  and  genius  almost  to 
scorn  the  vulgar  things  of  trade.  It  has  not  the 
paraphernalia  or  equipment  devised  for  up-to-date 
business  methods. 


WHY  TEACH  SPANISH?  1 5 

Cultural  Value  of  Spanish.  The  cultural  value  of 
a  study  of  Spanish  has  sometimes  been  called  in 
question  —  always  by  those  ill  qualified  to  pass 
judgment  in  the  matter.  Using  the  word  cultural 
also  to  include  disciplinary  (though  the  theory  of 
the  relative  disciplinary  value  of  different  studies  is 
generally  now  discarded),  the  cultural  value  of  a 
knowledge  of  Spanish  is  not  inferior  to  that  offered 
by  mastery  of  any  other  modern  foreign  language. 
Why  is  this  so  ? 

First,  the  study  of  Spanish  effects  the  same  lin- 
guistic training  as  does  the  study,  say,  of  French.  It 
is  not  an  "easy"  language,  contrary  to  the  somewhat 
commonly  held  opinion.  (No  language  can  really 
be  said  to  be  easy  of  acquisition.)  This  opinion  is 
based  on  two  facts  :  Spanish  has  usually  been  studied 
in  colleges  as  a  second,  third,  or  even  fourth  foreign 
language,  when  previous  experience  in  language 
study  makes  its  acquisition  much  easier  than  when  it 
is  studied  as  the  first  foreign  language;  second,  one 
who  examines  only  the  "  surface  indications  "  of 
the  Spanish  language  is  apt  to  be  deceived  by  the 
apparent  simplicity  of  its  phenomena.  It  is  true 
that  for  the  beginner  it  is  more  easily  pronounced 
than  French,  but  it  is,  when  spoken  by  a  native 
Spaniard,  an  elusive  language  to  catch  with  the  ear 
—  due  to  the  slighting  of  consonants  so  characteristic 
of  Spanish  speech.  As  one's  study  progresses  he 
finds  an  intricacy  of  idiomatic  construction  to  an 
extent  in  excess  of  that  found  in  French,  a  great 
wealth  of  vocabulary,  peculiarities  of  sentence 
structure,     neo-Latin     in     nature,     a     remarkably 


16  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

developed  inclination  to  the  subjunctive  far  exceed- 
ing that  in  French,  numerous  elliptical  expressions, 
qualifying  suffixes  of  nouns  and  adjectives,  and  great 
irregularity  of  verb  forms.  All  these  characteristics 
work  together  to  make  Spanish  worthy  of  the  best 
mental  effort.  The  study  of  Spanish  will  develop 
as  many  brain  loops  as  will  the  study  of  Russian  or 
Sanskrit.  It  all  depends  upon  the  teaching  and  upon 
the  effort  put  forth  by  the  student. 

Second,  in  the  Spanish  language  is  expressed  one 
of  the  great  literatures  of  the  world.  Spanish 
literature  has  most  profoundly  affected  that  of 
England  and  that  of  France.  In  England  Ben 
Jonson,  Thomas  Middleton,  Cyril  Tourneur, 
Nathaniel  Field,  and  many  others  of  Elizabethan 
days  drew  upon  Spanish  authors  of  their  time  for 
material  and  inspiration.1  And  in  France  from 
Rotrou  to  Victor  Hugo  and  Cyrano  de  Bergerac,  the 
indebtedness  has  been  great  on  the  part  of  French- 
men to  Spanish  men  of  letters.  The  great  Corneille 
and  the  greater  Moliere  hesitated  not  to  borrow,  and 
freely,  too,  from  Lope,  Alarcon,  and  Guillen  de 
Castro. 

Who  produced  the  greatest  tale  the  world  has  ever 
read?  Was  it  not  that  one-armed  soldier,  hero  of 
the  battle  of  Lepanto,  Miguel  de  Cervantes  Saave- 
dra  ?  That  creature  of  his  brain,  that  sad-eyed 
Knight  of  La  Mancha,  stands  forth  as  vividly  in  the 

1  See  Fitzmaurice-Kelly's  Relations  of  the  English  and 
Spanish  Literatures.  Also  Professor  F.  E.  Schilling's  chapter 
on  this  subject  in  his  Elizabethan  Drama  and  in  Vol.  VIII  of 
the  Cambridge  History  of  English  Literature. 


WHY  TEACH  SPANISH?  17 

pages  of  fiction  as  does  Hamlet  amid  all  the  dramas 
of  all  the  world.  Each  character  in  its  own  way, 
though  in  different  guise  and  different  speech,  pictures 
to  us  the  sum  total  of  the  comedy  and  the  tragedy 
of  man  here  below. 

Who,  so  far  in  the  history  of  the  human  race,  has 
been  the  most  prolific  writer  of  clever  dramas?  A 
Spaniard,  Lope  Felix  de  Vega  Carpio,  "  the  prodigy 
of  nature",  as  he"  was  called,  who  endowed  his  country 
once  for  all  with  a  national  drama.  It  is  well  known 
that  he  turned  out  about  1800  dramas,  besides  400 
autos  sacramentales  and  many  entremeses^^rvtJRlt-mg 
more  work  than  all  the  other  Writers  combined  of  the 
Elizabethan  period,  and  to  this  marvelous  facility 
was  joined  wonderful  perfection  of  construction  and 
unsurpassed  ingenuity  of  plot.  Knowing  Spanish, 
one  could  have  at  his  disposal  different  plays  by  this 
man  to  read  in  leisure  hours  for  many  years  to  come, 
as  470  of  Lope's  plays  have  survived.  The  Spanish 
drama  is  rightly  called  one  of  the  three  great  national 
dramas  of  the  world.  The  modern  drama  of  Spain 
is  well  represented  by  Tamayo  y  Baus  and  Echegaray 
(winner  of  half  of  the  Nobel  prize  for  literature  in 
1904)  and  at  the  present  day  by  Jacinto  Benavente, 
who  is  fondly  called,  and  with  reason,  the  modern 
Shakespeare.  Some  of  Benavente's  works  are  al- 
ready available  in  English,  and  they  are  hailed  every- 
where as  the  product  of  a  mighty  genius. 

What  did  Spain  produce  of  epic  poetry  ?  The 
Poem  a  del  Cid,  one  of  the  three  great  epics  of  the 
world.  In  unity  of  plan,  force,  simplicity,  and  high 
idealization  of  its  hero,  this  old  poem  is  second  to 


1 8  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

none.  This  first  great  monument  of  the  literature  of 
Spain  gives  just  cause  for  the  highest  esteem  for  the 
early  literatos  of  the  Peninsula.  And  four  hundred 
years  later  Alonso  de  Ercilla  y  Zufiiga  proved  him- 
self a  worthy  continuator  of  Spanish  epic  verse  when 
he  produced  the  first  and  only  epic  poem  dealing  with 
the  life  of  the  New  World.  This  was  the  Araucana, 
which  he  composed  while  campaigning  against  the 
Araucanian  Indians  of  Chile  and  which  relates 
eloquently  the  heroism  of  the  old  Indian  chieftain 
Colocolo.  Even  Voltaire  admitted  in  his  introduc- 
tion to  the  Henriade,  that  the  Araucana  was  an 
excellent  poem  of  its  kind. 

In  what  literature  is  found  "  the  richest  mine  of 
poetic  ballads  in  the  world"?  In  that  of  Spain. 
The  romances  and  cantares  of  the  fifteenth  and  six- 
teenth centuries,  found  in  numerous  cancioneros  and 
romanceros  (for  example,  the  Cancionero  de  Baena,  the 
Romancer o  general,  and  the  Romancer o  del  Cid),  were 
written  principally  by  court  poets  in  imitation  of  the 
old  popular  romances  of  tradition  (few  examples  of 
which  were  ever  preserved  in  printed  form) ;  and  they 
afford  some  of  the  finest  examples  of  pure  lyric 
beauty  (coupled  at  times  with  a  heroic  but  simple 
grandeur)  that  can  be  found  in  the  literature  of  any 
tongue.  This  great  fund  of  ballad  poetry  has  been 
an  inexhaustible  source  of  inspiration  to  poets  in 
and  out  of  Spain.1 

1  For  a  full  discussion  of  the  Spanish  ballad  see  Ticknor's 
History  of  Spanish  Literature,  Vol.  I,  pp.  113  to  165,  particularly 
his  summary  on  pp.  164  and  165.  As  many  discoveries  have 
been  made  since  Ticknor  wrote  his  monumental  work,  teachers 


WHY  TEACH  SPANISH?  19 

What  nation  laid  the  foundation  of  the  novel  and 
later  brought  it  to  its  fullest  perfection  ?  Spain. 
The  picaresque  tale  of  early  Spanish  literature  was 
the  beginning  of  the  genre.  The  Lazarillo  de  Tormes, 
Guzman  de  Alfarache,  Picara  Justina,  and  Marcos 
de  Obregon  set  the  standard  for  all  nations  in  the 
novel  of  adventure  and  intrigue.  Spain  has  been 
called  the  home  of  the  novel  and  at  the  present  day- 
she  still  holds  her  high  place  as  a  producer  of  short 
stories  and  novels.  Palacio  Valdes,  Alarcon,  Pereda, 
Valera,  Fernan  Caballero,  Pardo  Bazan,  Alas, 
Azorin,  Pio  Baroja,  and  Blasco  Ibanez  have  produced 
some  of  the  best  fiction  of  the  world  during  the  past 
seventy-five  years.  Our  own  beloved  author  and 
foremost  critic,  William  Dean  Howells,  says  of 
modern  Spanish  fiction : 

Take  the  instance  of  another  solidified  nationality 
[having  mentioned  the  Germans  previously],  take  the  Spanish, 
and  you  have  first-class  modern  fiction,  easily  surpassing 
the  fiction  of  any  other  people  of  our  time,  now  that  the 
Russians  have  ceased  to  lead.1 

It  is  true  that  even  the  names  of  many  of  the 
writers  above  given  are  usually  unknown  to  the 
North  American,  though  he  may  be  a  well-educated 
man,  so  closely  have  our  schools  adhered  to  the 
literary  traditions  of  England,  France,  and  Germany. 
Spanish  literature  contains  riches  long  neglected  in 

should,  wherever  possible,  secure  access  to  Ramon  Menendez 
PidaPs  El  Romancero  Espanol,  published,  New  York,  1910,  by 
The  Hispanic  Society. 

1  Harper's  Magazine,  Vol.  CXXXI  (November,  1915),  p.  957. 


20  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

this  the  most  northern  of  the  Americas,  but  fully 
appreciated  and  ardently  cherished  in  the  Americas 
to  the  south.  And  the  idea  that  Spanish  countries 
of  the  Western  Hemisphere  have  many  of  them  a 
literature  of  distinctive  merit  and  rich  variety  seems 
never  to  have  crossed  the  mental  horizon  of  most 
people  of  our  land.  Colombia,  Chile,  Argentina,  and 
Mexico,  to  name  no  others,  have  done  some  very 
good  work  in  the  novel,  short  story,  and  political 
and  historical  writings. 

Third,  a  knowledge  of  Spanish  is  the  key  to  under- 
standing a  great  race,  in  Spain  and  Spanish  America, 
a  race  that  has  much  to  contribute  of  help  to  us  and 
to  the  world  at  large. 

The  qualities  of  this  people,  as  evinced  in  their 
history,  traditions,  literature,  art,  and  customs  are 
(i)  genuine  courtesy.  This  courtesy  springs  from 
the  heart  and  is  manifest,  even  among  the  most 
lowly,  by  the  most  considerate  attention  to  the  needs 
of  fellow  creatures,  especially  when  these  fellow 
creatures  are  foreigners  and  in  need  of  advice  or 
information.  Real  consideration  of  the  rights  of 
others  is  at  the  base  of  this  courtesy.  As  a  corollary 
of  and  coexistent  with  this  courtesy  one  notes  (2) 
a  marked  love  of  democracy.  The  Spanish  are  one 
of  the  most  democratic  of  peoples,  contrary,  possibly, 
to  the  preconceived  notions  of  many  North  Amer- 
icans. A  feeling  of  equality  with  all  human  kind 
lies  deep  in  the  Spaniard's  heart.  "  All  men  are 
born  free  and  equal  "  seems  to  be  legible  in  the 
attitude  of  quiet  dignity  and  self-respect  that  the 
Castilian  always  maintains.     His  general  disregard 


WHY  TEACH  SPANISH?  21 

of  the  petty  regulations  of  government,  local  or 
national,  makes  one  think :  How  like  the  people 
of  our  own  United  States  !  "  And  one  must  likewise 
take  into  consideration  (3)  the  sobriety,  industry, 
and  long  patience  of  the  Spaniards.  They  have 
had  much  to  endure  in  the  last  450  years  in  the  way  of 
misgovernment,  but  through  it  all  they  have  plodded 
along,  each  bearing  his  burden  philosophically  and 
each  "  doing  his  bit".  The  Spanish  dance,  the  click 
of  the  castanets,  love  scenes  at  the  barred  window,  the 
bull  fight,  general  indolence  and  the  music  of  guitars 
—  these  are  the  things  that  in  the  minds  of  most 
people  typify  Spain.  But  the  sturdy,  steady  workers 
of  sun-baked  Spain,  who  painfully  till  a  soil  that 
frequently  lacks  water  to  a  sad  degree,  the  economi- 
cal, shrewd  small  merchant,  the  skillful  sheep  raiser, 
the  miner  employed  in  the  mines  of  mercury,  copper, 
sulphur,  antimony,  tin,  and  cobalt,  as  yet  but  scantily 
worked  though  rich,  the  orange  and  the  olive  grower, 
the  energetic  business  man  of  Barcelona,  the  iron- 
worker of  Bilbao,  the  sea-going  Asturian,  and  the 
patient  Galicfan  (who  was  the  best  laborer  that  Col- 
onel Goethals  had  in  the  construction  of  the  Panama 
Canal),  — these  represent  the  real  Spain,  the  Spain 
that  is  to-day  going  up  the  incline  down  which  she 
slid  so  painfully  for  many  long  generations.  The 
Spain  of  history,  Imperial  Spain,  who  undertook 
too  much  even*  for  her  great  strength  and  thus  met 
ruin,  the  Spain  of  the  days  when  the  sun  scarcely 
set  upon  her  wide  dominions,  that  Spain  has  gone  and 
a  new  Spain  is  here  under  the  leadership  of  a  most 
democratic  and  able  king,  and  we,  and  all  the  world, 


22  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

will  have  to  take  this  new  Spain  into  reckoning  in 
the  pregnant  years  of  the  coming  decades.  A  people 
that  possesses  the  qualities  mentioned  cannot  be  kept 
forever  in  obscurity. 

But  much  more  shall  we  have  to  take  into  account 
the  daughters  of  Mother  Spain,  those  Spanish- 
speaking  sister  republics  to  the  south  of  us,  with 
whose  fate  our  own  is  inextricably  interwoven, 
come  what  may  out  of  the  present  world  crisis.  If 
there  were  ever  any  doubt  of  the  truth  of  such  a 
statement  prior  to  August,  1914,  that  doubt  has  now 
forever  vanished.  These  republics  are  the  incarna- 
tion of  the  best  of  Hispanic  thought  and  civilization 
and  in  addition  they  have  deeply  drunk  of  the  New 
World  freedom. 

The  fourth  distinct  value  for  the  North  American, 
and  the  greatest  value  of  all,  of  a  knowledge  of 
Spanish  is  the  politico-social  or  international  value 
making  for  a  spiritual  ideal  of  Pan  Americanism  and 
international  amity  in  the  New  World.  This  ideal 
was  admirably  formulated  by  President  Wilson  in 
his  message  to  Congress  in  December,  191 5,  when 
he  said : 

That  the  States  of  America  are  not  hostile  rivals  but  co- 
operating friends,  and  that  their  growing  sense  of  com- 
munity of  interest,  alike  in  matters  political  and  in  matters 
economic,  is  likely  to  give  them  a  new  significance  as 
factors  in  international  affairs  and  in  the^psHtical  history 
of  the  world.  It  presents  them  as  in  a  very  deep  and 
true  sense  a  unit  in  world  affairs,  spiritual  partners, 
standing  together  because  thinking  together,  quick  with 
common    sympathies    and    common    ideals.     Separated 


WHY  TEACH  SPANISH?  23 

they  are  subject  to  all  the  cross  currents  of  the  con- 
fused politics  of  a  world  of  hostile  rivalries;  united  in 
spirit  and  purpose  they  cannot  be  disappointed  of  their 
peaceful  destiny. 

This  is  Pan  Americanism.  It  has  none  of  the  spirit  of 
empire  in  it.  It  is  the  embodiment,  the  effectual  embodi- 
ment, of  the  spirit  of  law  and  independence  and  liberty 
and  mutual  service. 

President  Butler  of  Columbia  University,  in  his 
annualvreport  for  November,  1914,  had  reference  to 
this  great  advantage  of  a  knowledge  of  Spanish 
when  he  said : 

It  will  not  be  possible  for  the  people  of  the  United 
States  to  enter  into  close  relation  with  the  peoples  of 
the  other  American  republics  until  the  Spanish  language 
is  more  generally  spoken  and  written  by  educated  persons 
here,  and  until  there  is  a  fuller  appreciation  of  the  mean- 
ing and  significance  of  the  history  and  civilization  of  those 
American  peoples  which  have  developed  out  of  Spain.  It 
will  not  be  enough  to  teach  Spanish  literature  and  to  teach 
students  to  read  Spanish.  They  must  also  be  taught  to 
speak  it  in  order  that  in  business  and  in  social  intercourse 
they  may  be  able  to  use  it  with  freedom  as  a  medium  of 
expression. 

Geography  since  time  immemorial  and  the  World 
War  from  1914  to  1917  set  South,  Central  and 
North  America  apart  from  the  rest  of  the  world. 
The  Monroe  Doctrine,  the  need  of  North  American 
capital  in  South  and  Central  American  enterprise, 
the  need  of  South  and  Central  American  raw  products 
in  North  American  factories,  and,  recently,  a  com- 


24  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

munity  of  interest  in  matters  of  world-wide  import  — 
all  these  factors  and  others  have  served  and  are 
serving  with  a  constantly  increasing  force  to  draw  all 
the  twenty-one  cis-Atlantic  republics  more  and  more 
closely  together.  Our  ideals  are  the  same,  our 
hopes  are  identical,  our  lines  of  progress  are  parallel 
if  not  convergent. 

There  are  but  three  tongues  used  as  national 
languages  in  the  important  nations  of  this  hemi- 
sphere —  English,  Spanish,  and  Portuguese.  Is  it 
not,  then,  passing  strange  that  far  more  German  is 
taught  in  our  schools  than  Spanish,  when  among  the 
languages  of  the  Americas  Spanish  is  second  only  to 
English  ?  And  practically  no  Portuguese  is  taught 
in  the  schools  of  the  United  States.  Why  do  these 
conditions  exist  ?  Because  old  traditions  still  prevail. 
For  generations  Latin  and  Greek  were  considered  the 
only  languages  deserving  of  a  place  in  the  curricula 
of  our  schools  and  colleges.  It  was  only  about  two 
generations  ago  that  the  advocates  of  French  and 
German  dared  raise  their  voices  and  claim  a  place 
for  those  languages  in  preparatory  school  and 
college.  Tradition  was  against  them.  But  after 
much  and  often  bitter  discussion,  argument,  and 
contention,  French  and  German  were  given  a  place 
in  the  program  of  study.  Three  of  the  greatest 
figures  in  American  letters  and  scholarship,  Long- 
fellow, Lowell,  and  Ticknor,  were  pioneers  in  the 
teaching  of  modern  languages  in  the  United  States, 
holding  successively  the  chair  of  modern  languages 
in  Harvard  University.  Incidentally,  all  three  were 
specialists    in     Spanish.      Longfellow's    poems    on 


WHY  TEACH  SPANISH?  25 

Spanish  subjects  and  his  translations  of  Spanish 
poetry,  Lowell's  letters  from  Spain,  and  Ticknor's 
history  of  Spanish  literature,  still  the  most  com- 
pendious and  painstaking  that  has  been  composed 
in  the  English  language,  speak  beautifully  and 
forcibly  of  their  appreciation  of  things  Spanish  and 
connect  these  writers  for  all  time  with  Spanish 
studies  in  the  United  States. 

The  years  pass  and  times  change.  America  comes 
to  mean  more  than  the  land  north  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico;  it  dawns  upon  our  conception  that  south 
of  that  body  of  water  —  the  symbol  heretofore  of  a 
greater  gulf  of  thought  and  customs  —  there  lie 
many  republics,  one  of  them  as  large  as  our  own, 
where  people  call  themselves  Americans  with  as 
much  pride  as  we  do.  To  deal  with  them,  to 
appreciate  them,  to  grasp  their  viewpoint,  to  win 
their  fellowship,  we  have  at  last  begun  to  realize  that 
first  of  all  we  must  know  their  languages  —  Spanish 
and  Portuguese.  Otherwise  the  barrier  of  prejudice 
on  our  part  still  stands,  and  the  gulf  of  suspicion  on 
the  part  of  South  Americans  still  yawns.  In  all 
those  lands  much  provision  is  made  in  iheir  educa- 
tional institutions  for  instruction  in  English.1 
They  are  meeting  us  more  than  halfway.     We  should 

1  See  Report  on  a  Trip  to  South  America  made  to  the  Board 
of  Education  of  New  York  by  William  T.  Morrey,  in  the  Bulletin 
of  the  High  School  Teachers'  Association  of  New  York  City, 
December,  1914.  Page  360  contains  a  "  comparison  of  general 
courses  of  study  in  high  schools  of  Latin  America  and  New 
York  City".  Page  361  gives  a  "  comparison  of  courses  of 
study  in  commercial  schools  of  South  America  and  New  York 
City  ". 


26  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

go  our  half  of  the  way  in  spreading  the  two  pre- 
dominant languages  of  the  Americas. 

The  greatest  stride  of  progress  in  Pan  American 
political  relations  since  the  days  of  President  Monroe 
was  made  when  President  Wilson  enlarged  the  Mon- 
roe Doctrine,  which  guaranteed  to  Hispanic  America 
freedom  from  European  aggression,  by  informing  all 
the  governments  of  South  and  Central  America  that 
the  United  States  stood  unselfishly  ready  and  willing 
to  make  treaties  with  them  that  would  insure  to  each 
American  republic  integrity  of  territory  and  freedom 
from  aggression  of  any  kind,  not  only  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States,  but  from  any  other  American  gov- 
ernment. The  next  step  should  be  "  the  promotion 
of  a  better  understanding  between  the  peoples  them- 
selves of  the  several  American  States",  as  Secretary 
McAdoo  has  expressed  it.1     He  continues  : 

Education  a  Paramount  Factor 


Transportation,  communication,  and  trade  relations 
are  invaluable  and  indispensable  agencies,  but  educa- 
tion is  a  paramount  factor.  The  Treasury  Department, 
with  its  varied  and  important  activities,  is  in  itself  a 
kind  of  university  extension  system,  and  as  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  I  am  obliged  to  be  something  of  a 

1  Some  International  Aspects  of  Public  Education,  an  address 
delivered  at  the  annual  convention  of  the  National  Education 
Association  held  in  Madison  Square  Garden,  New  York  City, 
on  July  6,  1916,  by  Hon.  William  G.  McAdoo,  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury;  Senate  Document  No.  498,  Government  Print- 
ing Office,  Washington,  1916. 


WHY  TEACH  SPANISH?  27 

schoolmaster  myself.  So  I  have  a  sympathetic  compre- 
hension of  the  problems  with  which  you  have  to  deal  and 
of  the  profound  importance  of  the  work  you  are  doing  in 
shaping  and  training  the  materiel  on  which  the  useful- 
ness and  permanency  of  democratic  institutions  must 
rest  not  only  in  the  United  States  but  throughout  the 
Americas.  The  public-school  system  is  the  very  foun- 
dation of  an  intelligent  and  enlightened  democracy.    » 

There  is  probably  no  school  system  in  the  world 
which  is  subjected  to  such  constant  and  searching 
analysis  and  criticism  as  that  of  the  United  States. 
This  is  due  not  so  much  to  the  defects  of  the  system 
as  to  the  fact  that  under  our  plan  of  school  administra- 
tion it  is  the  public  opinion  of  the  community  which 
finally  determines  the  organization,  the  purposes,  and 
the  trend  of  the  educational  system.  While  this  has 
been  the  source  of  some  weakness,  it  has  had  the  great 
advantage  of  keeping  the  standards  of  public  instruc- 
tion in  relatively  close  touch  with  national  needs.  In 
order  that  our  educational  system  may  perform  its 
high  mission,  it  is  necessary  that  it  should  reflect  every 
change  in  our  national  life,  meeting  every  new  need  as 
soon  as  it  arises. 

We  are  at  the  present  moment  going  through  one  of 
those  evolutionary  changes  which  fundamentally  affect 
our  international  relations  and  involve  a  heavy  obliga- 
tion on  the  common-school  system  of  our  country. 

Neglect  of  Latin  America  in  the  Curriculum  of  Our 

Schools 

What  I  learned  in  South  America x  impressed  me 
deeply  with  the  grave  disadvantages  accruing  to  our 

1  Mr.  McAdoo  speaks  of  the  trip  made  to  various  South 
American  countries  by  himself  and  the  other  members  of  the 


28  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

national  life  and  to  our  international  relations  because 
of  our  widespread  ignorance  not  only  of  the  history 
but  of  the  significance  of  the  profound  changes  that 
have  been  taking  place  in  the  countries  of  South  and 
Central  America  during  the  last  50  years  and  of  the 
importance  of  the  civilization  that  is  developing  in 
that  section  of  the  American  continent.  I  do  not 
mean  to  criticize,  but  simply  to  record  a  fact,  when  I 
say  that  the  public  schools  of  the  United  States  have 
not  contributed  their  full  share  toward  inculcating  in 
,the  youth  of  the  country  a  proper  understanding  of  the 
political,  economic,  and  social  development  of  our  sister 
Republics.  It  is  this  lack  of  understanding  that  has 
prevented  the  growth  of  a  sufficiently  enlightened 
public  opinion  in  the  United  States  with  reference  to 
Latin-American  affairs.  It  is  this  absence  of  sympa- 
thetic comprehension  that  makes  it  so  easy  to  mislead 
public  opinion  in  the  United  States  and  so  often  to 
cause  unwitting  injury  to  our  Latin- American  rela- 
tions. 

American  history  is  taught  as  if  it  begins  and  ends 
with  the  history  of  the  United  States;  American 
geography  is  interpreted  as  if  it  were  the  geography 
of  the  United  States.  In  the  study  of  commerce  and 
industry  the  provincial  view  is  too  frequently  taken 
that  Latin  America  is  merely  a  sort  of  supply  of  raw 
material  for  the  United  States.  It  is  no  wonder  that 
the  average  boy  and  girl  are  inclined  to  look  upon  the 
vast  territories  to  the  south  of  us  as  a  wilderness,  the 
seat  of  a  backward  civilization  and  peopled  by  a  back- 
ward race. 

United  States  section  of  the  International  High  Commission 
on  board  the  cruiser  Tennessee  in  the  spring  of  191 6. 


der- 

f 


WHY  TEACH  SPANISH?  29 


Inspiring  Development  of  Independent  Nations 

I  am  sure  that  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  burden 
you  with  arguments  emphasizing  the  desirability  of 
acquainting  the  youth  of  the  country  with  the  economic,* 
political,  and  social  conditions  of  the  continent  on  which 
they  live;  but  I  do  wish  to  point  out  the  great  national 
service  that  can  be  performed  in  making  our  young 
men  and  women  better  acquainted  with  the  history, 
the  literature,  and  the  important  cultural  elements* 
that  enter  into  the  great  civilization  that  is  develop- 
ing in  Latin  America.  Our  present  lack  of  under^ 
standing  is  a  source  of  national  weakness  because  it,  " 
a  real  obstacle  to  the  development  of  that  spirit 
international  cooperation  without  which  we  can, 
hope  to  develop  that  genuine  Pan  Americanism 
which  we  are  all  laboring  and  toward  which  we  are 
making  real  progress. 

The  history  of  the  Spanish-American  struggle  for 
independence  is  a  most  inspiring  record.  The  ob- 
stacles that  the  North  American  colonies  had  to  over- 
come were  not  so  formidable  as  those  which  confronted 
the  revolted  Spanish  colonies.  The  decades  immedi- 
ately succeeding  the  first  movement  for  independence 
present,  in  the  face  of  almost  overwhelming  discourage- 
ments, a  record  of  devotion,  self-sacrifice,  and  unswerv- 
ing faith  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  free  institutions 
which  compel  the  deepest  respect  and  admiration.  The 
story  of  this  struggle,  if  properly  presented  and  inter- 
preted, would  mean  much  to  the  youth  of  our  country. 
It  would  make  them  appreciate  the  similarity  of  ideals 
which  dominated  the  founders  of  the  political  system 
of  the  United  States  and  the  leaders  of  Latin-American 
independence,  and  would  serve  to  develop  a  sympathetic 
understanding  of  the  political  life  and  institutions  of 


30  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

these  countries.  We  are  apt  to  think  of  Central  and 
South  America  as  a  whole,  without  any  appreciation 
of  the  fact  that  each  country  has  passed  through  a 
different  process,  and  that  the  history  of  the  nineteenth 
century  is  a  history  of  adaptation  of  political  institu- 
tions to  the  economic,  racial,  and  social  environment 
peculiar  to  each,  resulting  in  great  diversity  in  form 
of  government  and  in  diversity  no  less  striking  in  the 
operation  of  political  institutions. 

During  the  last  century  the  American  Continent  has 
been  the  great  laboratory  of  political  evolution,  fur- 
nishing a  body  of  material  to  the  teacher  of  history 
and  civics  which  we  have  hardly  begun  to  utilize. 

Compulsory  Teaching  of  Spanish 

The  development  of  that  true  spirit  of  continental 
solidarity  with  the  peoples  of  Central  and  South  America 
for  which  we  are  striving  would  be  set  forward  im- 
measurably if  we  would  give  more  attention  to  their 
language  and  literature.  The  teaching  of  Spanish 
should  be  made  compulsory  in  our  public  schools;  in 
fact,  a  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the 
International  High  Commission  at  Buenos  Aires  recom- 
mending to  each  Government  that  in  all  schools  sup- 
ported by  public  funds  or  aided  in  any  way  by  public 
funds  the  study  of  English,  Spanish,  and  Portuguese 
should  be  obligatory.  It  is  astonishing  that  so  few 
people  in  our  country,  relatively  speaking,  understand 
that  in  the  most  populous  Republic  in  South  America  — 
Brazil  —  the  language  is  Portuguese  and  not  Spanish. 
We  do  not  pay  enough  attention  to  the  study  of  Spanish 
in  our  schools,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  English  is 
taught  to  a  very  large  extent  in  the  schools  of  South 
America. 


WHY  TEACH  SPANISH?  31 

At  the  present  time  we  rarely  think  of  citing  Latin- 
American  publicists  and  scientists.  Practically  no  refer- 
ence is  ever  made  to  Latin-American  literature.  We 
pay  little  attention  to  the  currents  of  thought  of  Central 
or  South  America ;  unmindful  of  the  fact  that  important 
contributions  have  been  made  and  are  constantly  being 
made  in  every  department  of  literary  and  scientific 
effort.  I  would  not  for  a  moment  disparage  the  study 
of  French  or  German,  nor  belittle  the  treasures  which 
a  knowledge  of  these  languages  unfolds,  but  I  do  wish 
to  submit  to  you  the  desirability  of  acquainting  our 
youth  with  the  intellectual  effort  and  the  intellectual 
achievement  of  the  American  Continent. 


The  Opportunity  of  the  Public  School 

I  have  welcomed  the  opportunity  to  lay  these  matters 
before  you  because  their  importance  was  constantly 
impressed  upon  me  in  connection  with  the  work  of  the 
International  High  Commission.  That  great  body  was 
created  by  the  twenty-one  American  Republics  for  the 
express  purpose  of  removing  the  obstacles  to  closer 
financial  and  commercial  cooperation  and  larger  inter-  ^ 
course  between  the  Republics  of  America.  Every 
thoughtful  person  must  recognize  the  fact  that  the 
public  schools  can  contribute  effectively  toward  the  ac- 
complishment of  this  desirable  end.  It  is  largely  a 
matter  of  education. 

Upon  you,  men  and  women  of  the  National  Education 
Association,  rests  the  ultimate  responsibility  of  making 
effective  the  policy  of  Pan  Americanism  formulated  by 
our  President  in  a  series  of  addresses  which  have  re- 
sounded throughout  the  entire  Western  Hemisphere; 


32  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

upon  you  rests  the  task  of  developing  in  the  youth  of 
the  country  a  broader  understanding  of  the  forces 
that  have  shaped  American  history,  a  keener  apprecia- 
tion of  the  significance  of  the  development  of  free  in- 
stitutions on  the  American  Continent,  and  a  deeper 
sympathy  with  the  aspirations  of  sister  nations  who, 
like  ourselves,  are  endeavoring  to  translate  into  realities 
the  ideals  of  American  democracy. 

United  States  Commissioner  of  Education  P.  P. 
Claxton  wrote  in  a  circular  sent,  October  i,  1914, 
to  the  principals  of  the  high  schools  of  the  land : 

I  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  teachers  and  school 
officers  to  the  importance  of  teaching  in  our  schools  and 
colleges  more  of  the  geography,  history,  literature,  and 
life  of  the  Latin-American  countries  than  is  now  taught, 
and  of  offering  instruction  in  the  Spanish  and  Por- 
tuguese languages  to  a  much  larger  extent  than  is  now 
done. 

It  is  not  the  fault  of  the  students  of  our  schools 
that  more  Spanish  is  not  taught  in  our  country.  As 
Professor  Frederick  Bliss  Luquiens  says : x 

As  far  as  our  students  are  concerned,  they  are  ready 
and  willing.  Some  of  them  feel  the  new  curiosity  in 
regard  to  South  America.  Their  eagerness  for  Spanish, 
whether  their  own  or  a  reflection  of  the  wishes  of  their 
parents,  is  one  form  of  that  undeveloped  public  opinion 
which  is  hungering  for  nourishment.  The  rest  are 
moved  by  a  consideration  which  has  nothing  to  do  with 

1  In  The  National  Need  of  Spanish,  Yale  Review  for  July, 
1915- 


WHY  TEACH^ SPANISH?  33 

South  America  —  they  have  inherited  from  former  gen- 
erations of  students  a  traditional  distrust  of  the  value 
of  French  and  a  traditional  terror  of  the  difficulties  of 
German.  A  substitute  seems  a  good  risk.  However 
unjustifiable  the  attitude  may  be,  it  at  least  acquits 
them  of  blame  from  our  present  viewpoint. 

In  practically  none  of  the  High  Schools  of  the  United 
States,  and  in  extraordinarily  few  of  the  colleges 
and  universities,  are  offered  courses  in  the  history, 
the  institutions,  the  geography,  and  the  economic  x- 
and  financial  conditions  of  Hispanic  America,  and 
this,  too,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  Hispanic  America 
is  our  nearest  and  richest  field  of  foreign  commerce. 
We  may  at  length  awaken  to  the  need  of  such  instruc- 
tion ;  we  have  begun  to  awaken  to  the  need  of  the 
study  of  Spanish  and,  to  some  slight  extent,  to  the 
need  of  Portuguese.  Ten  million  people  who  claim 
the  protection  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes  speak  Spanish 
as  their  mother  tongue.  Eighteen  of  the  New  World 
republics  use  Spanish  as  their  official  and  common 
language,  the  only  means  of  intercourse  among 
themselves. 

Realizing  these  things,  we  strive  to  arise  to  the 
opportunity  and  the  responsibility  placed  upon  us. 
But,  lo,  there  stands,  blocking  the  way  of  progress, 
tradition,  which  proclaims  that  the  disciplinary  and 
cultural  value  of  French  and  German  so  far  excels 
that  of  Spanish  that  we  need  not  trouble  ourselves  to 
learn  Spanish.  It  is  a  condition,  however,  a  fact, 
that  confronts  us,  not  a  theory,  —  a  geographical 
fact,  an  international  fact,  a  political  fact,  and 
that  fact  is  that  the  highest  interests  of  our  own 


34  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

people  and  of  all  the  peoples  of  all  the  Americas 
demand  that  the  youth  of  our  land  become  acquainted 
at  the  earliest  possible  moment  with  Hispanic 
civilization,  peoples,  and  languages.  The  question 
then  is,  after  all,  Shall  tradition  prevail  over  such  a 
fact  ? 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  PRESENT  PROGRESS  OF  SPANISH  IN  THE  SCHOOLS 

In  view  of  the  facts  previously  recited,  it  should  be 
possible  for  the  pupils  of  the  public  schools  to  begin 
the  study  of  Spanish  in  the  seventh  school  year 
(the  first  of  the  Junior  High  School).  Once  begun  it 
should  be  continued  through  the  twelfth  year.  The 
cumulative  benefit  of  six  years  of  study  of  a  foreign 
language,  throughout  the  period  of  twelve  to  eighteen 
years  of  age,  would  be  great.  Then  we  could  hope  to 
get  results  approximating  those  obtained  in  Europe, 
where  languages  are  begun  early  (often  at  ten  years  of 
age)  and  continued  systematically  for  many  years. 
A  second  language  should  not  be  attempted  until 
the  beginning  of  the  Senior  High  School  course. 
Throughout  the  six-year  course  in  Spanish  in  the 
Junior  and  Senior  High  Schools  much  attention 
should  be  given  to  the  related  facts  of  the  customs, 
history,  and  geography  of  Spanish  lands,  and  in  the 
twelfth  year  at  least  three  periods  a  week  should  be 
devoted  to  a  systematic  study  of  these  related 
facts.  In  the  college  or  university  for  at  least  two 
years  Spanish  and  Spanish-American  literature 
should  be  widely  read  and  studied,  and  speaking 
and   writing    ability   should    then    be   more   nearly 

35 


36  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

perfected.  Early  in  the  college  course  or  late  in  the 
High  School,  Portuguese  should  be  offered  as  an 
elective  and  provision  made  for  continuing  this 
language,  by  those  who  elect  it,  for  at  least  three 
years.  We  are,  of  course,  far  from  this  ideal  pro- 
gram for  the  young  American.  Some  day  we  may 
hope  to  reach  it.  At  present  we  are  making  a  good 
beginning.  It  may  be  of  advantage  to  take  stock 
of  what  is  being  accomplished  along  the  path  above 
marked  out. 

Spanish  is  accepted  on  a  par  with  French  and  Ger- 
man, year  for  year,  in  the  requirements  for  entrance 
to  one  or  more  of  the  various  courses  leading  to 
degrees  in  practically  all  the  Middle  Western  and 
Far  Western  colleges  and  universities.  Many  of 
the  Eastern  institutions  are  falling  into  line,  among 
them  some  of  the  most  conservative.  One  may 
cite,  for  instance,  Harvard  University,  Cornell 
University,  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Princeton 
University,  Syracuse  University,  Hamilton  College, 
Colgate  University,  Washington  Square  College  of 
New  York  University,  The  College  of  the  City  of 
New  York,  Brown  University,  Dartmouth  College, 
Amherst  College,  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology,  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute,  and 
Stevens  Institute  of  Technology.  By  means  of  the 
"  comprehensive  "  examinations  of  the  College  En- 
trance Examinations  Board,  a  student  may  at  present 
offer  three  years  of  Spanish  for  admission  to  these 
and  other  institutions  in  lieu  of  three  years  of  French 
or  German.  Unfortunately,  some  of  these  institu- 
tions make  but  little  or  no  provision  for  the  contin- 


THE   PRESENT  PROGRESS  OF  SPANISH  37 

uation  of  the  language  by  the  student  who  presents 
Spanish  for  entrance. 

The  University  of  the  State  of  New  York  accepts 
Spanish  on  a  par  with  French  or  German  for  the 
College  Entrance  Diplomas  in  Arts,  Science,  or 
Engineering.  A  regulation  to  this  effect  was  estab- 
lished for  the  diplomas  in  Science  and  Engineering 
by  the  Regents  of  the  University  in  the  spring  of 
191 5  in  response  to  an  urgent  petition  presented 
by  a  group  of  New  York  City  teachers,  whose 
request  was  reinforced  by  the  signatures  of  a 
hundred  prominent  educators  and  public  men  of 
the  State  of  New  York  and  of  a  few  such  men 
outside  that  state.  Not  until  the  spring  of  1916 
was  the  regulation  extended  to  include  the  diploma 
in  Arts. 

Students  may  now,  since  the  fall  of  1916,  present 
Spanish  for  the  Cornell  University  Undergraduate 
Scholarships. 

Of  the  language  courses  offered  by  the  various 
universities  in  their  extension  and  summer  session 
departments,  notably  in  Columbia  University,  those 
offered  in  Spanish  invariably  are  attended  by  larger 
numbers  of  students  than  are  the  courses  in  any 
other  modern  language.  Probably  20  per  cent  of 
these  students  in  the  extension  work  are  teachers, 
while  in  the  summer  courses  in  Spanish  easily  50 
per  cent  are  teachers  or  prospective  teachers  who 
have  seen  the  need  of  equipping  themselves  to  teach 
the  language.  The  need,  however,  in  both  of  the 
departments  mentioned  has  been  and  is  of  more 
advanced  courses  in  Spanish  and  Spanish-American 


38  SPANISH   IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

literature,  and  most  particularly  are  needed  courses 
in  the  methods  and  materials  in  Spanish. 

In  Indiana  University  there  are  more  students 
enrolled  in  Spanish  than  in  any  other  one  subject 
of  study.  In  the  United  States  Naval  Academy 
Spanish  has  recently  been  made  the  foreign  language 
of  greatest  importance  in  the  curriculum,  and  our 
future  naval  officers  must  now  pursue  the  study  of 
that  language  for  four  years  instead  of  two  as 
formerly. 

As  an  instance  of  the  spread  of  Spanish  to  the 
normal  schools  may  be  cited  the  fact  that  in  the 
New  York  State  College  for  Teachers  at  Albany 
two  large  classes  in  the  language  were  inaugurated 
in  the  fall  of  1916  and  the  study  of  Spanish  in  that 
institution  is  now  well  established. 

The  growing  realization  that  "  the  high  school  is 
the  college  of  the  common  people  "  is  doubtless 
indicated  in  the  fact  that  there  is  a  greater  and  more 
immediate  responsiveness  in  high  school  administra- 
tion to  the  demands  of  the  community  than  is 
perceptible  in  the  administration  of  the  college 
proper  with  its  entrenched  traditions  and  more 
conservative  aims.  The  people  at  large  seem  more 
deeply  aroused  to  the  need  of  Spanish  than  are  the 
professional  educators,  at  least  those  engaged  in  the 
college  field.  Thus  may  be  explained  in  large 
measure  the  fact  that  the  study  of  Spanish  is  making 
more  rapid  growth  in  the  High  Schools  than  in  the 
institutions  of  higher  rank. 

It  is  difficult  to  collate  exact  statistics  from  the 
country  at  large  to  show  the  increase  in  high  school 


THE   PRESENT  PROGRESS  OF  SPANISH 


39 


classes  in  Spanish.  Perhaps  the  author  may  be 
allowed  to  state  that  his  personal  experience  includes 
the  receipt  during  the  past  three  or  four  years  of 
numerous  requests  from  principals  and  modern 
language  teachers  in  various  parts  of  the  United 
States  for  a  suggested  syllabus  in  Spanish  or  an 
indication  of  suitable  books  for  the  beginning  of  a 
high  school  course  in  that  language.  And  as  the  one 
in  charge  of  the  modern  language  instruction  in  the 
High  Schools  of  the  City  of  New  York,  he  has  been 
able  to  gather  the  following  figures  as  to  registration 
of  students  in  the  various  foreign  languages  of  those 
schools.  On  March  15,  1917,  the  following  was 
the  condition  that  prevailed  in  the  24  High  Schools 
of  the  greater  city,  20  of  which  had  classes  in  Spanish  : 


Terms1 

i 

ii 

iii 

iv 

V 

vi 

vii 

viii 

Total 

French 

3751 

2854 

3003 

2315 

2206 

1094 

273 

218 

I4>714 

German 

5859 

S309 

4I03 

3383 

2282 

1993 

485 

484 

23,898 

Italian 

17 

18 

17 

22 

22 

7 

— 

— 

I03 

Latin 

4161 

3624 

3042 

2466 

1649 

i486 

432 

549 

17,409 

Spanish 

6952 

3223 

1495 

915 

404 

199 

82 

92 

13^62 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  registration  in  the  first 
term  of  this  table  pictures  the  conditions  of  March 
15,  191 7,  while  the  figures  given  for  the  second 
term  would  show  the  relative  standing  of  the  lan- 
guages in  the  previous  half  year,  say  of  October 
15,    1916,   and   those   of  the  fourth  term  represent 

1  Term  is  used  as  synonymous  with  half  year  or  semester. 


40  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

the  status  of  October  15,  1914,  and  so  forth.  Thus 
is  evident  a  steady  and  marked  drift  to  Spanish.  It 
should  be  remarked  that  in  a  few  of  these  schools 
Spanish  (and  likewise  French)  could  be  chosen  only 
as  a  second  foreign  language,  it  being  compulsory, 
because  of  long  custom,  to  complete  successfully 
first  at  least  a  year  of  Latin  or  German,  after  which 
a  choice  might  be  made  between  a  second  foreign 
language  or  a  science :  chemistry  or  physics. 
Spanish  had  also  suffered  the  additional  handicap 
of  being  elective  in  some  schools  only  in  commer- 
cial courses.  But  in  January,  191 7,  Acting  City 
Superintendent  Straubenmiiller,  at  the  request  of 
Associate  Superintendent  Tildsley,  in  charge  of  high 
schools,  had  the  following  circular  notice  sent  to  all 
the  principals  of  elementary  schools : 

Principals  of  elementary  schools  will  please  notify  the 
pupils  in  their  graduating  classes  that  they  are  allowed 
to  select  on  the  blank  that  is  sent  to  the  high  schools 
either  Spanish,  French,  German  or  Latin  (in  other  than 
the  commercial  or  technical  courses).  If  a  sufficient 
number  of  applicants  for  a  given  high  school  choose 
Spanish  and  a  teacher  is  available,  Spanish  will  be  given 
February  5,  191 7,  even  though  it  has  not  been  offered 
in  that  school  heretofore. 

This  direction,  which  did  much  to  create  an  equal 
opportunity  for  the  study  of  Spanish  in  the  High 
Schools,  doubtless  contributed  largely  to  the  number, 
6952,  who  on  March  15,  1917,  were  registered  in 
Spanish  classes.  In  May,  1917,  Associate  Superin- 
tendent Tildsley  further  clarified  the  situation  in  re- 


THE  PRESENT  PROGRESS  OF  SPANISH 


41 


gard  to  instruction  in  Spanish  in  the  High  Schools 
by  giving  as  a  specific  direction  to  the  principals  of 
those  schools  that  an  entering  student  should  be  in- 
formed that  he  may  choose,  as  his  first  language, 
either  Spanish,  French,  German,  or  Latin  on  an  equal 
basis  and  that  in  commercial  and  technical  schools  the 
entering  student  should  be  offered  Spanish,  French, 
and  German  on  a  par. 

As  a  result,  Spanish  is  now  being  taught  for  the 
first  time  in  the  history  of  Greater  New  York  in  all 
the  High  Schools  —  24  in  number.  The  following 
table,  compiled  as  of  October  5,  1917,  represents  the 
relative  status  of  the  several  languages  at  that  date. 


Terms 

i 

I 

iii 

iv 

V 

vi 

vii 

viii 

Total 

French 

German 

Italian 

Latin 

Spanish 

5075 
3151 

4118 

7776 

2525 
3862 

3"3 

4577 

2644 

3523 

33 
2731 
1990 

2036 

2846 

10 

20IO 

937 

1214 

1874 
1599 

615 

IO24 
1568 

17 
1271 

315 

271 

375 

493 
119 

I8l 
312 

330 
46 

14,970 

17,511 

74 

15,665 

16,375 

In  any  interpretation  that  may  be  put  upon  these 
statistics,  one  must  observe  that  the  registration  in 
the  High  Schools  was  68,465  on  February  28,  1917, 
and  66,955  on  September  30,  1917.1 

The  above  somewhat  detailed  recital  of  events  in 
the  language  situation  in  the  New  York  City  High 
Schools  has  been  given  because  it  is  believed  that 
these  events  have  had  their  approximate  counter- 
part in  the  High  Schools  of  most  of  the  large  cities. 

1  See  Addenda  for  the  figures  of  February,  191 8. 


42  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

Of  course,  in  the  Southwest  and  in  the  Far  West 
Spanish  has  for  several  years  been  studied  by  a 
greater  proportion  of  the  high  school  and  college 
students  than  was  the  case  in  most  of  the  other 
sections  of  the  land.  The  local  conditions,  created  by 
the  presence  there  of  a  considerable  body  of  Spanish- 
speaking  people,  have  been  responsible  for  this 
fact.  However,  the  recent  renascence  of  interest 
in  Spanish  has  made  itself  strongly  felt  in  those 
regions  as  well  as  in  other  places.  And  it  is  of  note 
that  the  High  School  of  Dallas,  Texas,  apparently  has 
the  distinction  of  being  the  first  High  School  of  the 
land  to  offer  Portuguese  to  its  students.  Courses 
in  that  language  were  instituted  there  in  the  fall  of 
1916  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  M.  A.  De  Vitis. 

The  Middle  West  has  shown  in  the  past  two  years 
a  commendable  interest  in  Spanish,  as  has  also  the 
Northwest.  The  South  was  probably  the  first 
section  of  the  country,  after  the  East,  to  respond 
in  its  school  system  to  the  desire  of  the  people  for 
Spanish.  In  fact,  had  the  advocates  of  Spanish 
carried  on  even  a  small  proportion  of  the  propaganda 
that  the  German  specialists  have  waged  so  un- 
ceasingly for  many  years,  a  much  greater  trend  to 
Spanish  than  now  exists  would  be  in  evidence.  But 
this  trend  has  manifested  itself  absolutely  without 
any  organized  efforts  at  propaganda,  except  that 
which  has  already  been  noted  as  made  in  1914-1916 
in  the  State  of  New  York. 

One  should  also  make  mention  here  of  the  fact  that 
the  private  preparatory  schools  have  been  very 
quick  to  meet  the  wishes  of  their  patrons  to  have 


THE  PRESENT  PROGRESS  OF  SPANISH  43 

instruction  in  Spanish  offered  in  the  modern  lan- 
guage departments.  Several  could  be  mentioned ; 
one  will  suffice  as  an  illustration.  In  the  fall  of 
191 3  there  were  in  Culver  Military  Academy, 
Culver,  Indiana,  under  the  instruction  of  Captain 
Charles  P.  Harrington,  three  classes  in  Spanish ; 
in  1914,  five  classes;  in  191 5,  six  classes;  in  1916, 
nine  classes;  in  1917  Captain  Harrington  and  two 
assistants  had  in  Spanish  twelve  classes  as  compared 
with  ten  classes  in  the  French  Department  and  six 
in  the  German. 

The  private  business  schools  have,  of  course,  been 
teaching  Spanish,  chiefly  from  the  commercial 
standpoint,  for  a  number  of  years,  and  these  classes 
have  recently  been  very  appreciably  augmented  in 
numbers  of  students. 

It  seems  quite  probable  that  the  conditions  just 
described  as  existing  in  the  language  departments  of 
the  various  kinds  of  secondary  schools  may  have 
eventually  an  interesting  effect  upon  the  higher 
institutions.  Will  not  the  colleges  and  universities 
be  compelled  by  these  conditions  to  provide  a 
greater  number  of  advanced  courses  in  Spanish  to 
meet  the  demands  of  students  coming  to  them  from 
the  schools  of  lower  grade  ?     Time  alone  will  tell. 

Finally,  in  considering  the  progress  that  Spanish 
has  made  as  a  subject  of  study  in  the  schools,  it 
remains  to  mention  briefly  the  Intermediate  School 
or  the  Junior  High  School.  To  the  author  it  seems 
questionable  whether  in  the  school  system  of  the 
United  States  it  is  advisable  or  desirable  to  begin  the 
study  of  a  foreign  language  at  all  in  the  present  eight- 


44  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

year  elementary  school,  even  at  a  point  as  advanced 
as  the  seventh  or  eighth  year  of  that  course.  The 
teaching  of  foreign  languages  in  the  grades,  as  at 
present  conducted,  has  made  not  for  Americanism 
but  for  the  isms  of  the  country  whose  language  has 
been  studied.  Also,  the  program  in  those  schools 
should  be  devoted  to  the  more  essential  things  — 
to  the  three  R's,  if  you  will.  Moreover,  careful 
observation,  without,  however,  the  reinforcement 
of  statistical  tables,  leads  to  the  belief  that  time 
devoted  to  modern  languages  in  the  grades,  under 
present  conditions,  is  mostly  time  wasted.  Few 
pupils  who  have  studied  French  and  German  in  the 
grades  have  been  able  to  secure  advanced  standing  in 
those  languages  on  entering  High  School,  and  fewer 
yet  have  been  able  to  maintain  advanced  standing 
if  granted.  This  may  be  due  in  varying  degree  to 
lack  of  capable  teachers  of  foreign  languages  in  the 
grade  schools,  to  lack  of  proper  supervision  and 
direction,  lack  of  proper  methods,  properly  planned 
syllabi  or  properly  adapted  text  books,  or  lack  of 
proper  articulation  between  the  high  and  elementary 
school,  —  or  it  may  be  due  to  all  of  these  weaknesses. 
And  yet,  beyond  question,  it  is  with  pupils  of  the 
age  of  those  in  the  last  two  years  of  the  present  grade 
schools  that  the  study  of  languages  should  be  begun 
for  reasons  previously  stated.  What,  then,  is  the 
solution  of  the  difficulty  ? 

The  well  organized  Junior  High  School  will  solve 
the  problem  presented.  Such  a  school  comprising, 
let  us  say,  the  seventh,  eighth,  and  ninth  years  of 
school  work  will  provide  (i)  departmental  teaching, 


THE  PRESENT  PROGRESS  OF  SPANISH  45 

whereby  the  modern  languages  will  be  taught  by 
specialists,  (2)  teachers  having  the  same  standard  of 
training  and  ability  (and  receiving  the  same,  or  ap- 
proximately the  same,  salaries)  as  those  who  teach 
in  the  present  four-year  High  School,  (3)  a  modified 
system  of  electives,  whereby  a  pupil,  with  the  help 
and  advice  of  teacners  and  parents,  may  choose  the 
language  he  prefers,  (4)  the  segregation  of  pupils  by 
courses,  (5)  instruction  and  training  of  the  young 
student,  under  supervision,  as  to  how  to  study,  and 
(6)  close  articulation  with  and  preparation  for  the 
Senior  High  School. 

It  will  be  presumed  that  the  Junior  High  School 
referred  to  in  this  book  will  have  assumed  at  least 
the  above  mentioned  characteristics  distinguishing  it 
from  the  old  type  of  elementary  school,  in  which  this 
new  type  of  school  is  frequently  first  established. 

A  Junior  High  School  organized  in  the  manner 
above  described  will  not,  can  not,  be  conducted  as 
a  money-saving  proposition.  The  greatest  obstacle 
to  the  proper  development  of  the  Junior  High  School 
has  been  the  fact  that  boards  of  education  have  seen 
in  this  new  type  of  school  a  way,  first  of  all,  to  have 
the  usual  high  school  courses  of  the  lower  terms 
taught  by  elementary  school  teachers  whose  salaries 
are  generally  much  less  than  those  paid  to  teachers 
in  the  four-year  High  School ;  moreover,  they  have 
placed  these  schools  under  the  supervision  of  ele- 
mentary school  principals  who  are  likewise  less 
highly  paid  than  are  high  school  principals.  In 
many  cases  the  result  has  been  what  might  well 
have    been    expected  —  inferior    work    because    of 


46  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

inadequately  paid  and  insufficiently  trained  teachers 
supervised  by  principals  similarly  handicapped  for 
this  particular  kind  of  work. 

Spanish  is  taught  at  present  in  four  of  the  sixteen 
Intermediate  Schools  in  New  York  City.  These 
schools  have  lacked  a  common  standard  of  instruction 
in  thelanguage.  Conditions  have  probably  been  more 
"hit-or-miss  '  in  regard  to  the  Spanish  syllabus  than 
those  that  have  prevailed  in  the  Junior  High  Schools  of 
other  cities.  These  conditions  have  come  about  natu- 
rally enough  because  no  one  in  authority  over  these 
schools  (they  are  not  as  yet  classified  under  the  High 
School  department)  has  shown  any  particular  interest 
in  the  direction  of  the  work  in  Spanish.  The  course 
of  study  in  Spanish  in  Los  Angeles  Intermediate 
Schools  has,  however,  been  carefully  worked  out  and 
the  results  are  said  to  be  quite  satisfactory.  But 
if  Spanish  (or  any  other  foreign  language)  is  to  be 
taught  successfully  in  the  Junior  High  Schools  of  the 
United  States,  as  successfully  as  the  opportunity  thus 
provided  warrants  and  the  needs  of  the  nation 
require,  there  must  be  in  these  schools  (i)  well  pre- 
pared, well  paid  teachers  who  are  specialists  in  the 
language,  (2)  especially  adapted  methods  of  teaching, 
(3)  suitable  texts,  and  (4)  carefully  planned  courses 
of  study. 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE  PREPARATION  OF  THE   SECONDARY  SCHOOL 
TEACHER  OF  SPANISH 

The  lack,  previously  mentioned,  of  well  trained 
teachers  of  Spanish  has  been  a  serious  handicap  in 
many  cases  to  the  growth  of  that  language  in  the 
schools,  lower  and  higher.  Many  schools  would 
have  instituted  instruction  in  Spanish  had  it  been 
possible  to  secure  competent  instructors.  Heads  of 
modern  language  departments  have  had  to  take 
either  North  Americans  with  a  limited  knowledge 
of  Spanish  —  sometimes  lamentably  limited  —  but 
with  an  understanding  of  methods  and  of  pupils, 
or,  on  the  other  hand,  teachers  who  were  of  Spanish 
or  Spanish-American  origin  with  usually  no  under- 
standing of  our  methods  of  teaching  and  lacking  al- 
most entirely  in  comprehension  of  that,  to  them, 
peculiar  creature,  the  American  child,  and  likewise  in- 
capable, naturally,  of  appreciating  the  difficulties  of 
Spanish  for  the  English-speaking  person.  This  is  not 
said  to  belittle  in  any  way  the  teachers  who  are  of 
Spanish  or  Spanish-American  birth.  They  are  badly 
needed  in  the  Spanish  classes  of  our  schools  to-day, 
if  and  when  they  have  succeeded  in  acquiring  (i) 
the  point  of  view  of  North  American  students  in 
general  and  of  those  who  study  Spanish  in  particular, 

47 


48  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

(2)  a  good  knowledge  of  English,  and  (3)  methods 
and  educational  ideals  that  are  followed  in  our 
school  system.  Such  teachers  can  be  of  great  help 
and  inspiration  to  their  colleagues,  the  Yankee 
teachers  of  Spanish,  and  a  far  greater  number  of 
them,  equipped  in  this  way,  are  desired  than  can 
probably  be  found.  Teachers  who  are  bilingual  in 
English  and  Spanish  are  very  few  in  number  as 
compared  with  those  who  are  bilingual  in  English 
and,  say,  German.  Out  of  the  two  classes  of  Span- 
ish teachers  mentioned  the  head  of  department  has 
struggled  to  make  good  teachers,  with  what  mediocre 
success  in  many  cases  can  well  be  imagined.  In 
cities  having  a  local  system  of  licensing  teachers 
upon  examination,  an  insufficient  number  of  candi- 
dates present  themselves,  and  the  Spanish  work 
has  therefore  been  placed  necessarily  in  the  hands  of 
substitute  teachers,  many  of  whom  have  been  in- 
capable of  qualifying  as  regularly  licensed  teachers. 
Recently,  however,  in  some  cities,  in  the  midst  of 
this  need  an  unexpected  source  of  supply  has  become 
available  —  excess  teachers  of  German.  This  is 
not  said  slightingly.  The  teachers  of  French  and 
German  have  blazed  the  way  for  the  teacher  of 
Spanish.  They  were  in  the  field  first.  They  have 
struggled  long  with  the  general  problems  of  modern 
language  instruction  and  have  secured  for  modern 
languages  in  general  their  due  place  in  the  program 
of  study.  Students  of  beginning  Spanish,  if  in  the 
hands  of  experienced  teachers  of  French  or  German, 
already  trained  and  successful  in  the  use  of  a  modified 
form  of  the  direct  method,  would  surely  stand   a 


PREPARATION  OF  THE  TEACHER  49 

better  chance  of  successfully  acquiring  the  rudi- 
ments of  Spanish  than  if  they  were  taught  by 
Spanish-speaking  teachers  unacquainted  with  our 
methods  and  ways  of  dealing  with  our  children. 
However,  the  above  statement  is  made  only  with  the 
strong  proviso,  that  these  skilled  teachers  of  German 
or  French  already  know  the  elements  of  Spanish, 
have  a  reasonably  good  pronunciation  of  that  lan- 
guage, continue  studying,  in  some  of  the  ways 
mentioned  later,  the  phonetics,  the  language,  and 
the  literature,  and  make  every  effort  to  become  as 
expert  in  presentation,  drill,  and  conversation  in 
Spanish  as  in  the  other  language  in  which  they  are 
/already  specialists.  And  in  the  larger  cities  having 
a  local  system  of  licensing  teachers,  such  teachers 
should,  it  seems,  secure  in  the  accustomed  way  the 
special  license  to  teach  Spanish.  That  would  be  a 
further  earnest  of  their  intention  to  put  forth  their 
best  efforts  in  the  new  field.  Spanish  must  not 
become  a  kind  of  limbo  for  excess  teachers  of  any 
subject.  Neither  should  Spanish  be  a  last  resort  for 
weak  students,  as  has,  alas !  been  the  case  in  some 
schools  in  the  past.  It  is  quite  true,  of  course, 
that  outside  of  the  large  cities  most  high  school 
language  teachers  still  have  to  teach  two  or  even 
three  foreign  languages.  But,  for  them,  requirements 
for  permission  to  teach  classes  in  Spanish  should  be 
made  as  rigid  as  they  are  made  for  permission  to 
teach  any  other  of  the  languages.  In  this  connection 
it  is  pertinent  to  take  note  here  of  a  certain  attitude 
of  dilettanteism  toward  Spanish  that  is  still  rather 
noticeably  evident.     This  has  been  true  of  the  view- 


$0  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

point  of  principals,  teachers,  and  students.  Recently 
many  a  teacher  of  French,  of  Latin,  or  even  of 
German,  who  has  at  some  time  in  the  indefinite  past 
toyed  a  bit  with  Spanish,  has  volunteered  to  take 
charge  of  the  newly  established  Spanish  class  or 
classes.  This  affords  a  novel  experience,  a  breaking 
up  of  the  monotony  of  teaching  some  other  subject 
which  the  teacher  is  better  qualified  to  teach. 
"Spanish",  they  said,  "is  easy.  Any  one  who 
knows  French  or  Latin  can  teach  Spanish.  Let  me 
have  a  fling  at  it,  if  these  pupils  want  Spanish  ". 
And  the  principal,  thus  easily  settling  a  perplexing 
problem,  said,  "Have  your  fling".  And  thus  was 
the  Spanish  language  disseminated  —  literally  —  in 
that  and  many  another  school.  Shades  of  Quintilian 
and  Cervantes !  Better  had  Spanish  never  been 
offered  at  all  than  offered  in  this  way. 

The  would-be  Spanish  teacher  has  no  mean  task 
ahead  of  him  if  he  would  be  a  worthy  occupant  of 
his  post.  As  was  related  in  the  Introduction  of 
this  book,  he  will  have  fewer  aids  at  hand  than  will 
the  prospective  teacher  of  French  and  German.  And 
so  his  preparation,  if  conscientiously  made,  and  his 
later  work,  if  properly  performed,  will  probably  be 
more  arduous  than  that  of  his  French  or  German 
colleague.  What,  then,  shall  the  prospective  teacher 
of  Spanish  do  to  prepare  himself  well  for  his  life 
task  ?  Suppose  we  consider  here  what  his  ideal 
preparation  would  be.  Some  day  it  will  be  feasible. 
We  shall  assume  that  this  person  is  a  North  American 
(for  experience  has  shown  that  the  North  American, 
other  things  being  equal,  when  trained  thoroughly 


PREPARATION  OF  THE  TEACHER  5 1 

in  Spanish,  makes  the  best  teacher  of  that  language 
in  the  schools  of  the  United  States),  that  he  possesses 
the  necessary  qualities  of  good  health,  good  humor, 
sympathy  with  young  folks,  ambition,  and  a  liking 
for  school  work. 


Academic  Training 

The  first  and  most  obvious  requirement  of  a 
teacher  is  that  he  know  his  subject.  Let  us  say 
that  our  future  teacher  of  Spanish  has  had  three 
years  of  Spanish  in  the  High  School  (and  in  addition, 
three  years  of  Latin)  in  which  study  emphasis  has 
been  placed  upon  the  acquisition  of  the  language  by 
training  in  hearing,  speaking,  reading,  and  writing  it. 
Coincident  therewith  he  will  have  had  a  minimum 
of  three  periods  a  week  for  one  year  of  the  study  of 
the  history  and  geography  of  Hispanic  lands.  He 
will  also  have  the  advantage  of  membership  for  three 
years  in  a  Spanish  club  conducted  under  the  super- 
vision of  an  enthusiastic  teacher.  When  he  enters 
the  college  or  university  he  will  find  there  courses 
which  continue  his  high  school  work,  chiefly  by 
affording  instruction  in  the  literature  of  Spain  and 
Spanish  America.  Romance  languages  will  be  his 
"  major  "  work  and  Spanish  his  principal  Romance 
language.  The  novela,  the  drama,  the  ballad,  the 
short  story,  will  be  studied  in  courses  covering  the 
various  centuries  of  the  long  history  of  Spanish 
literature.  Special  attention  will  be  given  to  the 
Siglo  de  Oro  and  to  the  Spanish  prose  of  the  nineteenth 
and  twentieth  centuries.     A  careful  study  will  be 


52  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

made  of  the  interrelation  of  the  literary  movements 
of  Spain  and  those  of  England,  France,  and  Italy. 
His  ability  to  converse  in  correct  Spanish  will  be 
heightened  by  membership  in  the  Spanish  club  of  the 
college  and  by  association  with  students  from  Spanish 
lands.  He  will  acquire  a  good  reading  knowledge  of 
German  that  he  may  read  later  the  works  of  the 
German  scholars  on  Romance  philology,  on  Spanish 
literature  and  phonetics.  Later  in  his  college  course 
he  will  devote  himself,  if  time  permits,  to  Romance 
philology  in  general  and  Spanish  philology  in  partic- 
ular. He  will,  of  course,  give  a  due  portion  of  his 
time  to  studies  in  education,  in  which  he  will  pay 
particular  heed  to  high  school  problems  and,  by  in- 
dependent reading,  to  the  principles  of  psychology 
that  lie  at  the  basis  of  language  study  and  teaching. 
His  history  courses  will  comprise  at  least  a  year  of 
work  devoted  to  the  history,  institutions,  art,  and 
education  of  Spain  and  particularly  of  the  Spanish- 
American  republics. 

His  graduate  work  will  be  done  partly  in  America 
and  partly  abroad.  His  study  of  Spanish  literature 
will  be  intensified  and  broadened.  Philology,  pho- 
netics, and  pedagogy  with  attention  to  the  problems 
of  the  modern  language  teacher  will  also  receive  con- 
siderable attention  from  our  teacher-in-the-making. 
In  America,  part  of  his  graduate  work  will  consist 
of  courses  on  Spanish  in  secondary  schools  and  on  the 
organization  of  materials  to  be  used  in  the  high 
school.  He  should,  if  possible,  obtain  experience 
in  teaching  in  the  practice  school  of  the  School  of 
Education  of  the  university  where  he  studies.     The 


PREPARATION  OF  THE  TEACHER        53 

technique  of  teaching  will  be  a  matter  to  him  of  great 
interest  and  investigation.  When  abroad,  where  he 
should  study  consecutively  for  two  years,  if  at  all 
possible,  in  accredited  schools  or  universities,  he 
will,  of  course,  get  his  intimate,  first-hand  knowledge 
of  the  customs,  institutions,  educational  ideals, 
mode  of  life,  manners,  art  and  architecture  remote 
and  modern,  of  Hispanic  peoples.  Needless  to 
say,  his  mastery  of  spoken  Spanish  will  be  made  as 
nearly  perfect  as  possible  by  living  that  same  daily 
life  that  Spanish  people  do.  Fortunately,  in  Spain 
at  least,  he  will  have  little  temptation  to  use  English, 
as  English  is,  indeed,  Greek  to  practically  all 
Spaniards  in  town  or  country. 

He  will  study1  at  theUniversidad  Central  of  Madrid 
under  such  professors  as  R.  Menendez  Pidal, 
Romance  philology ;  Americo  Castro,  history  of  the 
Spanish  language ;  Elias  Tormo,  history  of  art ; 
Manuel  B.  Cossio,  pedagogy;  Rafael  Altamira, 
institutions  of  America ;  Eduardo  de  Hinojosa, 
history  of  America;  A.  Bonilla  y  San  Martin, 
history  of  philosophy;  M.  Gomez  Moreno,  history 
of  Arabic  art  in  Spain ;  Julian  Ribera,  history  of  the 
Arabs  in  Spain ;  Miguel  Asin,  Arabic ;  Abraham  S. 
Yahuda,  history  of  the  Jews  in  Spain. 

The  Centro  de  Estudios  (of  the  Junta  para  Amplia- 
tion de  Estudios),  situated  in  the  building  of  the 
Biblioteca  Nacional,  has  a  very  good  library  and 
collection  of  important  reviews.     Of  much  interest 

1  Much  of  the  following  information  has  been  supplied  by 
Professor  Federico  de  Onis  of  Columbia  University,  who  is  also 
catedrdtico  of  the  University  of  Salamanca, 


54  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

and  usefulness  to  the  foreign  student  is  the  laboratory 
in  phonetics  conducted  by  Tomas  Navarro  Tomas, 
the  leading  phonetician  of  Spain.  There  are  seminars 
in  various  subjects  and  regular  courses,  all  conducted 
by  professors  of  the  greatest  ability,  such  as  Alta- 
mira,  Tormo,  Gomez  Moreno,  Hinojosa,  and  Ortega 
y  Gasset.  The  director  is  Professor  Menendez  Pidal 
and  the  secretary  T.  Navarro  Tomas.  Besides  sum- 
mer courses  for  foreigners  during  July  and  August 
there  are  offered  cur  so  s  trimestrales,  October  to  De- 
cember, January  to  March,  and  April  to  June. 

The  Ateneo  of  Madrid  provides  probably  the 
finest  opportunities  to  the  foreign  student  for  getting 
thoroughly  in  touch  with  the  best  in  modern  Spanish 
civilization  and  culture.  He  may  receive  all  the 
benefits  of  the  Ateneo  for  the  very  reasonable  fee 
of  1 5  pesetas  a  month.  The  library  of  modern  books 
is  the  best  in  Madrid.  Newspapers  and  reviews  of 
all  kinds  from  all  countries  are  available.  Lectures 
are  given  almost  every  day,  often  by  the  best  writers, 
scientists,  and  specialists  in  art  and  literature.  Even- 
ing concerts  are  frequent.  In  short,  the  Ateneo  is 
the  best  center  in  which  to  follow  the  literary  move- 
ment of  modern  Spain. 

The  Residencia  de  Estudiantes>  conducted  by  the 
Junta  para  Ampliation  de  Estudios  (Ministerio  de  In- 
struction Publica)>  has  separate  quarters  for  men  and 
for  women  and  is  equipped  in  the  most  modern  style. 
It  is  designed  primarily  for  Spanish  students,  but  a 
certain  proportion  of  foreign  students  can  be  accom- 
modated. Rates  are  moderate,  5  to  7  pesetas  a  day, 
including  room,  excellent  meals,  heating,  baths,  etc. 


PREPARATION  OF  THE  TEACHER  55 

Outside  of  Madrid  our  student  will  find  in  Sala- 
manca very  desirable  courses  in  the  ancient  univer- 
sity of  that  city.  Here  the  famous  scholar,  Miguel 
Unamuno,  gives  courses  in  the  history  of  the  Spanish 
language  and  in  the  Greek  language  and  literature. 
Angel  Apraiz  conducts  the  work  in  the  history  of 
art.  There  is  in  this  city  an  Ateneo  where  lectures 
are  frequently  given.  Salamanca  offers  the  advan- 
tages of  a  very  old  institution  with  opportunities  for 
forming  close  friendships  and  for  getting  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  traditional  Spanish  life.  One  may 
live  there  for  from  8  to  10  pesetas  a  day  in  the  best 
hotels. 

Excepting  those  of  Madrid  and  Salamanca,  the 
universities  of  Spain  offer  little  of  value  to  the  Amer- 
ican student.  With  the  additional  exception  of  the 
university  at  Valladolid,  the  higher  institutions  are 
located  in  dialectal  regions  —  Andalusia,  Catalonia, 
Galicia,  etc.  —  and  while  our  student  should  visit 
these  regions  in  order  to  see  all  types  of  Spanish  life, 
he  should  not  waste  time  in  those  places  if  he  desires 
particularly  to  know  well  the  Spanish  language  and 
literature.  Living  in  Spain  may  in  general  be  esti- 
mated at  the  rate  of  10  pesetas  a  day,  though  it  is 
possible  to  live  comfortably  for  less. 

Outside  of  Spain  the  American  student  will  also 
find  considerable  profit  in  the  courses  of  Professors 
Martinenche  at  the  Sorbonne  in  Paris,  Cirot  at 
Bordeaux,  the  two  Merimees,  one  at  Toulouse  and 
the  other  at  Montpellier,  and  Fitzmaurice-Kelly  at 
the  University  of  London. 

But  Spain  he  must  know  well,   for  from   Spain 


56  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

emanate  the  race  ideals,  viewpoints,  philosophy  of 
life,  art,  religion,  and  even  to  a  great  extent,  the  polit- 
ical ideals,  of  the  republics  which  in  the  New  World 
developed  out  of  the  civilization  of  Spain  —  a  fact 
that  some  seem  to  disregard  when  they  advocate  the 
study  of  Spanish  in  the  United  States  almost  entirely 
from  the  Spanish-American  point  of  view.  In  other 
words,  for  a  broad  and  deep  comprehension  of  Span- 
ish America,  the  first  essential  is  an  understanding 
of  the  ideals  and  history  of  the  mother  country. 
For  instance,  Spanish-American  literature  without 
its  background  of  Spanish  literature,  and  our  own 
literature  without  that  of  England  for  its  background, 
both  stand  stark  and  tenuous  in  the  searching  light 
of  criticism.  One  cannot  perceive,  one  cannot  ap- 
preciate the  finer  shades  of  beauty  inherent  in  the 
literatures  of  the  New  World  without  the  contrasting, 
enriching,  and  softening  effects  imparted  by  the 
background  of  the  mother  literature  of  the  Old  World 
nation. 

But  our  teacher  of  Spanish  will  not  neglect  His- 
panic America.  The  marvelous  republics  that  lie 
but  partly  developed  under  southern  constellations, 
forming  that  America  "  que  aun  reza  a  Jesucristo 
y  aun  habla  en  espanol",  are  dormant  giants  that 
one  day  will  rise  in  their  might  and  claim  the  atten- 
tion of  all  the  world.  In  their  cities  exist  universities 
and  schools  of  ancient  founding,  some  of  them  with 
student  bodies  of  more  than  2000  in  number.  Not 
Harvard  but  San  Marcos  in  Peru  is  the  oldest  uni- 
versity of  the  New  World.  And  in  the  halls,  libra- 
ries, and  laboratories  of  these  institutions  learned 


PREPARATION  OF  THE  TEACHER        57 

men,  of  origins  as  diverse  as  those  of  North  American 
savants,  are  ceaselessly  at  work  to  increase  the  fund 
of  human  knowledge. 

So  our  teacher  could  profitably  spend  a  year  living 
amid  the  various  types  of  Hispanic  civilization  of 
South  America  —  as  diverse  as  the  countries  in  which 
they  flourish  —  and  studying  in  their  universities, 
especially  in  those  of  Argentina,  Uruguay,  or  Chile, 
the  literature  and  history  of  those  lands.  Most 
especially  would  he  thus  come  to  appreciate  the 
differing  national  characteristics  and  problems  of 
these  various  nations  and  thus  be  able  to  advise 
intelligently  his  future  students  who  might  be  partic- 
ularly interested  in  Hispanic  America.  And,  not 
least  of  all,  he  would  have  a  chance  to  study  the 
various  kinds  of  Spanish  spoken  there.  In  Brazil  he 
would  study  the  Western  World  Portuguese  as  dis- 
tinguished from  that  of  Portugal.  He  would,  be- 
cause of  his  standing  as  a  scholar,  be  admitted  to 
the  society  of  educators,  writers,  artists,  and  public 
men.  Finally,  he  will  return  to  the  United  States 
and  receive  his  Doctorate  of  Philosophy  in  some  uni- 
versity, on  the  basis  of  original  investigations  he  will 
have  been  able  to  make  along  some  line  in  his  studies 
and  travels  in  Spanish  lands. 

All  this,  it  will  be  said,  is  too  ideal.  The  answer 
to  that  objection  is :  First,  Woe  to  him  who  sets  too 
low  an  ideal.  Second,  there  are  at  present  teachers 
of  Spanish  who  have  been  able  to  encompass  practi- 
cally all  that  is  here  outlined,  though  possibly  not 
in  the  exact  sequence  suggested  and  not  as  easily 
as  these  paragraphs  may  seem  to  indicate.     Third, 


58  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

the  schools  and  universities  of  our  country  will  no 
doubt  in  time  be  equipped  to  supply  a  larger  portion 
of  this  training  than  they  do  at  present.  Fourth, 
there  will  doubtless  be  worked  out  in  the  course  of 
time  a  successful  plan  for  the  interchange  of  North 
and  South  American  teachers,  in  both  the  high  school 
and  the  university  fields.  Such  powerful  organiza- 
tions as  the  Pan  American  Union,  the  Pan  American 
Conferences  and  the  American  Association  for 
International  Conciliation,  the  universities,  and 
other  societies  that  could  be  mentioned,  cannot  fail 
eventually  to  make  provision  for  this  interchange  of 
teachers.  This  should  be  begun  first  in  the  secondary 
schools  of  the  two  continents,  for  these  institutions 
are  more  closely  in  touch  with  the  life  of  the  peoples 
of  the  several  nations.  A  corollary  of  this  plan  would 
be  an  arrangement  for  the  interchange  of  university 
students. 

The  sequence  of  the  steps  in  the  later  stages  of 
this  program  will,  of  course,  often  be  necessarily  varied 
by  many  practical  considerations.  Few  who  would 
teach  are  able  to  continue  in  graduate  work  after 
obtaining  the  bachelor's  degree.  A  period  of  teach- 
ing and  economizing  is  usually  necessary  in  prepara- 
tion for  foreign  study  or  for  graduate  study  at  home. 
But  if  the  aspirant  is  so  fortunate  as  to  secure  a 
teaching  position  in  a  university  town,  a  large  part 
of  his  graduate  work  may  be  done  coincidentally 
with  his  teaching.  Lacking  this,  there  are  summer 
school  courses  in  which  some  of  the  phases  of  the 
work  suggested  may  be  done,  or,  in  the  near  future, 
such   studies   will   be   possible   in   summer   session. 


PREPARATION  OF  THE  TEACHER  59 

There  are,  since  191 2,  courses  for  foreigners  conducted 
in  Madrid  by  the  Junta  para  Ampliation  de  Estudios, 
which  organization  may  be  addressed  at  Moreto,  1, 
of  that  city.  Many  of  these  courses,  described 
above,  are  planned  particularly  to  aid  North  Amer- 
icans who  wish  to  teach  Spanish.  The  Spanish  gov- 
ernment, through  the  Minister io  de  Instruction 
Publica  y  Bellas  Artes,  is  taking  an  increasingly  active 
part  in  fostering  this  instruction  to  foreigners.1  The 
courses  offered  grow  richer  and  more  varied  every 
year. 

Other  "  Means  of  Grace" 

And  when  the  above  program  has  been  accom- 
plished, mayhap  after  many  years  of  endeavor,  even 
then  the  teacher's  efficiency  and  enthusiasm  must 
be  kept  aglow,  the  tools  of  his  trade  must  be  kept 
sharp,  by  association  in  organized  societies  with 
other  teachers  of  Spanish,  by  reading  modern 
language  journals  and  by  writing  for  them,  and  by 
observing  the  work  of  other  teachers  of  languages  in 
his  own  and  other  schools.  The  Spanish  teacher,  to 
keep  abreast  of  the  times,  should  be  a  member  of 
modern  language  associations  and  particularly  of  The 
American  Association  of  Teachers  of  Spanish  and  a 
reader  of  HISPANIA,  the  organ  of  that  Association. 
Occasional  visits  to  Spanish  countries,  possibly  to 
those  he  has  not  seen  before,  will  stimulate  and 
keep  alert  his  zeal  and  enthusiasm.  The  lover  of 
things  Spanish  is  peculiarly  fortunate  in  that  he  has 

1  See  Chapter  XVII  for  further  information  in  this  respect. 


do  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

not  one  but  nineteen  separate  and  distinct  nations  of 
Spanish  speech  which  he  can  visit  and  where  he 
can  enjoy  countless  and  varying  manifestations  of 
Spanish  society,  art,  language,  and  letters. 

The  Sabbatical  Year 

For  the  full  enjoyment  and  benefit  of  residence  and 
travel  abroad,  a  continuous  stay  of  at  least  six 
months  seems  an  irreducible  minimum.  Otherwise 
the  returns  are  hardly  commensurate  with  the  invest- 
ment necessary  of  time  and  money.  What,  then, 
can  the  Spanish  teacher,  with  his  two  or,  at  most, 
three  months  of  vacation,  do  that  he  may  avail 
himself  of  the  inestimable  benefit  of  study  in  a 
Spanish  land  for  the  minimum  time  stated  ?  So  far 
as  his  own  action  in  the  matter  is  concerned,  his  only 
course  seems  to  be  to  absent  himself  from  his  post  a 
half  or  whole  school  year  for  this  purpose.  But  this 
is  easier  said  than  done.  A  limited  ipurse  and  un- 
consenting  school  authorities  are  usually  insuperable 
barriers.  And  yet  if  he  is  doing  his  duty  as  an  up-to- 
date  language  teacher,  he  is  expected  to  have  a 
marked  fluency  in  Spanish  in  order  to  handle  effec- 
tively the  newer  methods  of  teaching,  to  have  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  life,  customs,  geography, 
history,  and  institutions  of  Spanish  lands,  to  be  an 
interpreter  of  Spanish  civilization.  But  when  he 
has  not  been  so  fortunate  as  to  complete  a  program  of 
training  similar  to  that  above  described,  or  when  he 
feels  again  the  call  of  sunny  Spain  and  longs  again  to 
hear  Castilian  speech  from  Castilian  lips  and  to  steep 


PREPARATION  OF  THE  TEACHER  6l 

himself  again  in  the  traditions  of  age-old  Spain,  or 
when  he  realizes  his  great  need  of  a  first-hand  ac- 
quaintance with  Spanish-American  countries,  he 
cannot  repress  a  feeling  of  envy  of  his  colleague  in 
the  college  world  who,  no  matter  whether  a  foreign 
language  teacher  or  not,  has  his  sabbatical  year  or 
leave  of  absence  on  half  or  full  pay.  The  secondary 
school  teacher's  work  is  surely  as  worthy  and  im- 
portant as,  more  exacting,  more  nerve-racking,  more 
voluminous,  and  more  closely  supervised  than  is 
that  of  the  college  teacher,  and  yet  the  former  has 
not  the  long  vacation  and  the  sabbatical  year  that 
the  latter  enjoys.  Boards  of  education  in  control 
of  High  Schools  seem  exceedingly  slow  in  realizing 
that  in  granting  to  modern  language  teachers  in  High 
Schools,  Junior  or  Senior,  a  sabbatical  year  on  half 
pay  or  a  half  year  on  full  pay,  for  the  purpose  of 
study  in  the  country  or  countries  whose  languages 
they  teach,  they  would  be  doing  probably  the  one 
most  helpful  tthing  they  could  do  to  improve  the 
teaching  of  modern  languages  in  the  United  States, 
and  that,  in  so  doing,  they  would  be  only  following 
the  policy  long  ago  adopted  by  many  boards  of 
trustees  of  universities  (usually  held  to  be  most 
conservative  bodies)  not  only  with  regard  to  teachers 
of  modern  languages  but  for  teachers  of  all  subjects. 
In  the  larger  cities,  at  least,  this  failure  to  grant  a 
sabbatical  period  cannot  be  justified  on  the  ground 
of  expense.  For  instance,  a  teacher  receiving  an 
annual  salary  of  #2050  (the  ninth  year  salary  in 
New  York  City),  if  allowed  a  year  of  absence  on  half 
pay,  would  receive  $1025  from  the  city.     To  take  his 


62  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

place,  a  substitute  teacher  could  be  secured  for  the 
192  school  days  of  the  year  at  #4.00  per  day,  or 
#768,  which,  added  to  the  $1025  of  half  salary  for  the 
regular  teacher,  would  make  $1793  instead  of  the 
#2050  that  would  otherwise  be  paid  the  regular 
teacher.  Of  course,  the  higher  up  in  the  salary 
schedule  a  teacher  were,  the  more  the  city  would 
save.  Few  teachers  would  be  eligible  for  a  sabbatical 
year  whose  annual  salary  would  not  be  greater 
than  their  half  salary  plus  the  substitute's  pay.  It 
is  true  that  there  would  probably  be  less  efficient 
teaching  of  the  teacher's  classes  while  they  were  in 
the  hands  of  the  substitute,  but  any  loss  thus 
occasioned  would  be  far  outweighed  by  the  gain  in 
the  efficiency  and  zeal  of  the  absent  teacher  when 
he  returned  to  duty.  The  granting  of  the  sabbati- 
cal period  would  make  more  easily  possible  the  ideal 
preparation  of  the  Spanish  teacher  advocated  in  this 
chapter. 

War  times  are  clearly  inopportune  times  in  which 
to  seek  the  sabbatical  year  for  teachers  for  study 
abroad,  but  one  of  the  first  educational  movements 
to  follow  the  close  of  the  war  should  be  a  great  con- 
certed effort  of  modern  language  teachers  in  the 
High  Schools  of  the  United  States  to  secure  the 
sabbatical  year  for  this  purpose.  Our  boasted 
"  splendid  isolation  "  as  a  nation  is  gone ;  our  rela- 
tions with  non-English-speaking  nations  are,  and 
hereafter  always  will  be,  very  close.  Upon  the  ter- 
mination of  the  Great  War,  the  increased  commercial 
competition  between  European  nations  and  our  coun- 
try as  well  as  closer  bonds,  friendly  and  commercial, 


PREPARATION  OF  THE  TEACHER        63 

between  some  of  those  nations  and  our  own  will 
give  to  the  study  of  foreign  languages  in  the  United 
States,  and  especially  to  Spanish,  a  new  meaning  and 
impetus,  and  one  of  the  best  innovations  in  educa- 
tional policy  that  we  as  a  nation  could  make  would 
be  to  provide,  in  the  manner  suggested,  for  the  im- 
provement of  modern  language  instruction. 

The  ideals  we  have  set  in  the  foregoing  paragraphs 
for  the  preparation  and  continued  improvement  of 
the  teacher  of  Spanish  hold  equally  well  for  any 
one  of  the  three  types  of  High  School  mentioned  — 
the  present  four-year  High  School,  the  Senior  High  * 
School,  or  the  Junior  High  School.  The  pupil  in 
the  seventh,  eighth,  or  ninth  school  year  needs  a 
teacher  of  Spanish  fully  as  competent  and  well 
prepared  as  does  the  senior  in  college;  rather,  he 
needs  a  more  competent  one.  Gongorism,  the  me- 
tathesis of  consonants  and  •liquids,  the  structure  of 
Spanish  verse,  the  wars  of  Alphonso  the  Wise,  or 
Comenius'  theories  of  modern  language  teaching 
may  not  be  fit  matters  for  instruction  in  the  Junior 
High  School  class  in  Spanish,  but  a  knowledge  of 
these  and  many  other  similar  things,  on  the  part  of 
the  teacher  of  Spanish,  should  give  him  a  better 
perspective  of  his  task,  make  his  own  mental  life 
richer  and  keener,  and  thereby  make  more  inspiring 
and  helpful  his  teaching  of  Spanish  to  pupils  of 
whatever  class. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  AIM  IN  TEACHING  SPANISH 

Any  consideration  of  methods  in  teaching  Spanish 
proves  to  be  more  or  less  useless  until  the  aim  or 
object  in  teaching  the  language  is  determined. 
What,  then,  is  our  aim  ?  Is  it  to  equip  pupils  so  that 
they  may  act  successfully  as  interpreters  on  the 
troubled  Mexican  border  or  at  Ellis  Island,  or  as 
waiters  in  a  Spanish  boarding-house  in  the  Spanish 
section  of  the  city,  or  as  correspondents  in  inter- 
national trading-houses,  or  as  translators  of  Nick 
Carter  stories  into  Spanish,  or  as  conductors  of 
North  American  tourist  parties  through  the,  to 
many,  undiscovered  delights  of  somnolent,  sun- 
baked Spain,  prepared  glibly  to  cry  as  they  lead  the 
way,  "  Aqui  se  ve  a  la  izquierda  una  pintura  de 
Murillo,  la  mas  famosa  de  todas  las  que  pinto  ese 
gran  maestro;  tiene  mucho  merito,"  or  shall  we 
train  our  students  to  be  dreamy  followers  of  the  sad- 
visaged  Knight  of  La  Mancha,  que  en  gloria  estey 
given  over  to  chivalrous  deeds  of  doubtful  merit 
though  prompted  by  high  ideals,  or  shall  we  prepare 
them  only  to  enjoy  the  rich  literature  of  Spain  and 
Spanish  America,  or  shall  we  school  them  especially 
to  be  learned  delvers  in  the  more  or  less  virgin  field 
of  Spanish  philology  ? 

64 


THE  AIM  IN  TEACHING  SPANISH  65 

To  answer  Yes  to  only  one,  no  matterwhich,  of  these 
questions  would  be  Quixotic  indeed.  To  say  Yes 
to  the  entire  group  of  questions  would  more  nearly 
hit  the  mark,  for  the  training  we  should  give  a  pupil 
in  Spanish,  from  the  Junior  High  School  up,  ought 
to  equip  him  so  that  he  could,  if  need  be,  or  if  the 
desire  arose,  exercise  in  any  one  of  these  lines  in  a 
creditable  manner,  though  to  a  limited  extent,  the 
Spanish  he  has  learned  from  us. 

The  aim  of  the  teacher  of  Spanish  in  the  United 
States  should  be  to  effect  that  thorough  mental 
discipline  which  is  imparted  by  a  study  of  grammar, 
idiom,  and  syntax ;  and  so  to  develop  that  ready  and 
accurate  facility  of  ear,  tongue,  and  eye  that,  all 
combined,  will  make  the  present  and  future  use  of 
the  language,  and  progress  therein,  both  possible 
and  certain.  We  cannot  in  two  or  three  years,  nay 
even  in  six,  assure  a  student  a  complete  mastery  of 
Spanish.  But  we  can  and  should  so  have  trained 
him  that  he  may  apply  his  knowledge  of  Spanish 
to  any  one  end  or  to  several  ends  with  the  self- 
confidence  (conscious  or  unconscious)  that  he  can 
easily  grow  up  to  the  demands  that  may  be  made 
upon  his  knowledge  of  the  language. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  METHOD  TO  BE  USED  IN  TEACHING  SPANISH 

If  such  is  the  aim  posited  in  teaching  Spanish, 
how  are  we  to  attain  this  consummation  so  devoutly 
to  be  wished  ?  The  answer  is :  by  appealing  con- 
stantly to  all  the  senses  involved  in  learning  a 
language,  by  variety  of  method  of  procedure  in 
teaching.  We  will  train  the  pupil's  eye  in  reading 
and  writing  Spanish ;  his  ear  in  hearing  others  read 
and  speak  Spanish  :  his  tongue  and  other  vocal  organs 
by  practical  phonetics  and  by  causing  him  to  speak 
Spanish ;  his  motor  nerves  and  muscles  by  causing 
him  to  give  instant  response  to  commands  in 
Spanish  that  require  immediate  action  and  to 
write  sentence  and  paragraph  units  in  Spanish. 
Only  through  the  reports  of  the  different  sensory 
nerves  to  the  brain  is  material  provided  for  the 
mind  to  react  upon.  Without  these  sense  reports 
the  mind  would  perish  of  starvation.  The  stimuli 
for  the  sensory  nerves  of  sight  and  hearing  (the 
printed  or  t/he  spoken  word)  may,  as  we  well 
know,  be  couched  in  Czech,  Chinese,  Russian,  or 
Spanish  as  well  as  in  English.  But  we  also  know  that 
it  takes  years  to  train  the  mind  to  react  promptly 
to  these  stimuli,  even  in  the  case  of  the  mother 

66 


METHOD  TO  BE  USED  IN  TEACHING  SPANISH      67 

tongue.  But  eventually  the  mind  can  be  trained 
to  react  to  Spanish  stimuli  —  if  you  will  —  and  to 
send  out  over  the  motor  nerves  those  commands 
and  reflex  actions  that  will  result  in  expression  in 
Spanish,  in  writing  or  in  speech.  Then  is  the  Spanish 
mind  created  ;  thus  is  the  feeling  for  Spanish  aroused. 
This  is  "la  posesion  efectiva  de  la  lengua".  We  can 
and  must  appeal  to  all  sides  of  that  complex  and 
impressionable  thing  known  as  a  young  person's 
mind.  And  once  a  pupil  is  trained  to  use  the  lan- 
guage in  these  various  modes  it  will  become  a  part 
of  his  mental  life  and  he  will  have  acquired  a  basis 
for  any  future  use  of  it.  But  let  no  one  say  that  the 
training  thus  sought  is  a  short  or  easy  process. 
The  stimuli  must  be  presented  again  and  again 
unwearyingly ;  reactions  must  be  directed,  checked 
up,  and  repeated  unceasingly. 

What  does  the  practice  of  this  principle  of  varied 
sense  appeal  exact  of  the  teacher  of  Spanish? 
It  demands  originality,  resourcefulness,  ability  to 
improvise.  Doing  things  in  the  same  old  way  is 
the  line  of  least  resistance  but  not  the  line  of  greatest 
effectiveness.  Ruts  must  be  abandoned  and  new 
highways  laid  out.  But  meandering,  blind  trails 
are  no  better  than  ruts.  Design,  preparation,  and 
careful  thought  are  necessary  in  making  a  path  of 
progress.  That  is,  good  judgment  is  the  next 
requisite  of  the  teacher  in  appealing  to  the  different 
senses  and  in  getting  the  different  reactions.  But 
originality  (or  resourcefulness)  and  good  judgment 
will  still  come  short  of  effectiveness  unless  enthusiasm 
and  forcefulness  are  ever  compelling  the  teacher  of 


68  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

Spanish  onward.    Forcefulness,  good  judgment,  and 
resourcefulness  will  win  the  day. 

What  shall  we  call  the  method  that  would  train, 
as  outlined,  the  various  senses  involved  in  learning  a 
language  ?  Would  it  not  be  the  eclectic  method,  if 
name  it  we  must,  the  method  that  takes  good  things 
wherever  they  are  found,  be  they  heralded  by  the 
direct  method  advocates,  or  cherished  by  grammar 
enthusiasts,  or  promulgated  by  those  who  would 
make  ability  to  read  the  Ultima  Thule  of  language 
study  ?  But  this  eclectic  method  should  not  be 
allowed  to  run  riot.  Every  step  of  procedure  should 
have  a  definite,  thought-out  purpose  in  view.  We 
should  realize  that  the  so-called  direct  method  in 
its  insistence  upon  much  oral  work  has  a  strong 
claim  for  a  large  place  in  the  classes  of  young  be- 
ginners, and  in  Junior  High  School  classes  the  ear 
and  the  tongue  should  doubtless  be  trained  more  than 
the  eye.  But  let  us  not  at  any  point  in  the  High 
Schools,  Junior  or  Senior,  exaggerate  the  importance 
of  oral  practice.  An  American  teacher  who  cannot 
use  the  direct  method  and  a  native  who  can  use  no 
other  are  alike  hopeless.  Again,  inductive  proc- 
esses in  teaching  grammar  are,  it  is  true,  usually  the 
most  effective  and  make  the  best  impression  on  the 
young  mind.  If  the  child  by  inductive  processes 
discovers  the  truth,  partly  at  least,  for  himself,  his 
acceptance  of  that  truth  will  be  more  complete  and 
vital.  But  we  should  bear  in  mind  that  he  often 
accepts  facts  as  he  finds  them  and  that  for  him  the 
statement  of  fact  made  by  an  older  person  is  often 
sufficient.     He   does   not   usually   reason   from   the 


METHOD  TO  BE  USED  IN  TEACHING  SPANISH      6o 

particular  to  the  general.  So  it  is  conceivable  that 
there  are  times  when  a  deductive  presentation  of 
grammar  is  preferable.  A  clear-cut,  concise  deduc- 
tive process  is  often  more  effective  than  a  round- 
about inductive  method.  Likewise  formal  or  set 
translation,  so  totally  rejected  by  some,  has  its  due 
place,  though  beyond  doubt  a  minor  place,  in  our 
scheme  of  things,  and  then  only  late  in  the  course  in 
Spanish. 

The  eclectic  method,  while  making  much  of  oral 
practice  in  the  form  of  question  and  answer  in 
Spanish,  oral  reproduction  of  anecdotes,  oral  repeti- 
tion of  passages  memorized,  and  so  forth,  will  not 
neglect  other  types  of  sense  appeal  at  any  stage  of 
progress.  It  is  true  beyond  peradventure  that  for 
90  per  cent  of  the  students  of  foreign  languages 
(except  Spanish)  in  the  United  States,  the  summum 
bonum  is  the  ability  to  read  and  write  the  language 
studied.  And  one  might  safely  hazard  the  guess 
that  for  at  least  70  per  cent  of  the  students  of  Spanish 
—  a  language  the  speaking  knowledge  of  which  is 
doubtless  of  more  practical  value  to  North  Americans 
than  that  of  any  other  foreign  tongue  —  the  same  is 
true.  Why,  then,  give  oral  drill  at  all  to  such  stu- 
dents as  will  have  no  need  to  speak  Spanish  ?  For 
this  reason :  experience  has  shown  that  oral  practice 
(not  mere  rambling  attempts  at  conversation)  with 
its  coincident  aural  training  gives  ability  to  read 
aloud  or  silently,  but  usually  understandingly,  with- 
out translation  into  English.  To  go  back  to  our 
previous  discussion,  the  stimuli  presented  to  the 
brain  and  the  reactions  thereupon  that  are  involved 


70  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

in  much  reading  aloud  and  in  much  hearing  of 
others'  reading  aloud  create  in  time  such  quickened 
reaction  to  Spanish  that  the  pupil  really  begins 
to  think  in  Spanish.  Of  oral  practice  it  must  also 
be  said  that  it  greatly  enlivens  interest. 

The  eclectic  method  is,  in  a  fashion,  a  misnomer,  a 
self-contradictory  term,  for  it  is  built  on  the  hypoth- 
esis that  there  is  no  one  best  method.  As  President 
G.  Stanley  Hall  says :  The  ideal  for  the  teacher  to 
strive  toward  is  to  know  all  methods  enough  to  use 
the  best  elements  of  them  all  by  turns,  but  to  resist 
extremists  who  insist  that  there  is  only  one  best 
way  and  who  would  tie  them  down  to  any  inexorable 
and  exclusive  method,  although  an  enthusiast  in 
any  does  often  accomplish  marvels.  Professor 
Bagster-Collins  writes  :  Some  of  us  are  too  prone  to 
believe  that  we  have  at  last  struck  upon  tie  right 
way  of  teaching  modern  languages,  but  another 
generation  may  think  differently.1  From  Melanch- 
thon  to  Vietor,  from  Comenius  to  Gouin,  the  wheel 
of  methods  has  revolved,  .its  revolutions  bringing 
into  prevalence  at  the  top  of  the  wheel  now  this 
and  now  that  theory  as  to  the  best  way  of  teaching 
foreign  languages.  There  seems  to  be  very  little 
that  can  now  really  be  called  new  in  methods  of 
instruction  in  languages.  And  for  progress  in  this 
field  in  the  future  shall  we  not  have  to  look  to  the 
laboratory  of  the  experimental  psychologist  where 
may  be  investigated  and  checked  up  scientifically 
our  multitudinous  theories  and  our  empiric  practices  ? 

1  Bulletin  of  the  New  England  Modern  Language  Associa- 
tion, May,  191 6;   p.  42. 


METHOD  TO  BE  USED  IN  TEACHING  SPANISH      71 

The  three  elements  of  most  importance  that 
determine  the  methods  to  be  used  in  teaching  a 
language  seem  to  be : 

(1)  the  ideals,  national  and  local,  that  prevail, 
marking  the  general  trend  of  education ; 

(2)  the  characteristics  of  the  individual  teacher; 
and 

(3)  the  type  of  pupil. 

When  a  nation  has  a  great  foreign  commerce  and 
close  intercourse  with  several  nations  of  different 
tongues,  a  national  point  of  view  in  regard  to  learn- 
ing and  teaching  languages  will  prevail  which  will  be 
entirely  different  from  the  viewpoint  in  another  na- 
tion that  economically  is  largely  self-sufficient  and 
but  slightly  interested  in  international  affairs.  A 
teacher  of  dominant  personality  may  be  extraordina- 
rily successful  with  some  certain  method  whereas  an 
unassertive,  mild-mannered  teacher  may  make  a 
hopeless  failure  of  that  same  method.  The  person- 
ality, training,  physique,  and  philosophy  of  life  of  the 
teacher  are  elements  inevitably  affecting  the  success 
of  the  method  used.  Then  the  type  of  pupil :  lan- 
guage teachers  seem  invariably  to  complain,  for  in- 
stance, of  the  inferior  ability  in  languages  of  students 
in  commercial  schools  and  commercial  courses  as 
compared  with  those  in  the  academic  or  college  pre- 
paratory courses.  And  there  seems  to  be  just  reason 
for  this  complaint.  It  is  needless  to  multiply  exam- 
ples to  show  the  variation  in  ability  of  various 
groups  of  students  due  to  differences  in  age,  previous 
preparation,  temperament,  life  plans,  and  so  forth. 


72  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

In  view  of  the  countless  combinations  made 
possible  by  at  least  the  three  factors  mentioned, 
each  one  of  which  is  itself  a  variable,  it  would  indeed 
seem  bold  to  proclaim  that  any  one  method  yet 
devised  is  the  best  method  to  be  followed  in  all 
cases. 

In  the  last  analysis,  then,  the  successful  teacher  of 
Spanish  will  be  the  one  who  has  received  training 
similar  to  that  above  described,  who  realizes  that 
a  language  is  a  habit-forming  and  not  a  fact  subject, 
who  perceives  that  appeal  must  be  made  to  all  the 
senses  and  faculties  involved  in  learning  a  language, 
and  who,  because  he  knows  that  varying  conditions 
require  appropriately  varying  treatment,  studies 
national  and  local  needs  as  regards  Spanish,  analyzes 
his  own  strong  and  weak  points  and  those  of  his 
pupils,  collectively  and  individually,  and  then 
evolves  his  own  method,  which  he  applies  with 
enthusiasm,  resourcefulness,  and  good  judgment.  In 
other  words,  his  is  the  eclectic  or  selective  method 
applied  to  accomplish  the  aim  we  have  previously 
set  in  the  teaching  of  Spanish. 


CHAPTER  Vn 

THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY  IN  SPANISH  FOR  THE  JUNIOR 
HIGH  SCHOOL  AND  METHODS  OF  TEACHING  IT 

The  aim  in  teaching  Spanish  in  the  Junior  High 
School  should  be  that  stated  in  Chapter  V.  But  the 
accomplishment  of  that  aim  will  be  sought  in  a 
manner  somewhat  different  from  that  employed  in 
the  Senior  High  School  or  in  the  ordinary  four-year 
High  School. 

At  least  two  of  the  chief  characteristics  of  the 
Junior  High  School  that  determine  some  modifica- 
tion of  the  methods  that  would  be  used  in  the  ordi- 
nary High  School  are: 

(i)  Younger  children  —  twelve  to  fourteen  years 
of  age.  This  means  that  minds  more  impressionable 
and  plastic  are  to  be  dealt  with.  More  memory 
work,  less  appeal  to  the  reasoning  powers,  shorter 
recitation  periods,  shorter  lessons,  less  home  work, 
more  oral  work,  are  all  in  place. 

(2)  An  earlier  presentation  than  was  offered  in  the 
old  system  of  opportunities  to  study  new  subjects. 
This  means  greater  interest  of  pupils  in  the  work  of 
their  seventh,  eighth,  and  ninth  years  of  school  life. 
Under  the  old  plan,  a  pupil  often  tired  of  studying 
arithmetic    and    geography,    spelling,    history,    and 

73 


74  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

grammar,  for  the  better  part  of  eight  years.  He  may 
not  realize  that  in  taking  up  bookkeeping  in  the 
Junior  High  School  he  is  continuing  his  arithmetic, 
nor  that  general  science  is  his  old  friend  nature 
study  in  disguise,  that  English  is  another  name  for 
reading,  composition,  and  grammar.  At  any  rate, 
new  studies  (or  old  studies  under  new  names),  new 
kinds  of  books,  new  sets  of  teachers  who  are  all 
specialists,  in  short,  the  Junior  High  School  organized 
as  we  have  previously  indicated,  awakens  in  the  pupil 
a  new  interest  in  school  work.  And  when  he  is  given 
an  opportunity  to  learn  Spanish  his  interest  is 
most  keen.  Life  is  offering  him  new  and,  perhaps, 
unexpected  advantages  which  he  longs  to  seize. 
Now  he  may  learn  to  "  talk  with  Spaniards  and 
Mexicans",  as  he  will  naively  put  it.  Great, 
then,  is  the  opportunity  of  the  teacher  of  Spanish  in 
the  presence  of  this  attitude  of  the  young  pupil. 

These  two  factors  must  be  considered,  of  course, 
in  fashioning  the  course  of  study  for  the  Junior 
High  School.  Bearing  them  in  mind,  let  us  proceed 
to  mark  out  here  a  three-year  general  syllabus  for 
such  a  school  with  suggestions  for  teaching  it.  It 
will  be  assumed  that  the  student  elects  Spanish, 
that  it  is  the  first  foreign  language  he  has  studied, 
that  the  course  is  planned  for  academic  and  com- 
mercial students  alike,  and  that  these  three  years  of 
Spanish  are  to  be  followed  by  three  years  more  in 
the  ordinary  High  School  or  in  the  Senior  High 
School. 


COURSE  OF  STUDY  FOR  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOLS     75 

First  Year 

Pronunciation 

That  of  Castile  will  be  taught  and  for  the  follow- 
ing reasons :  (1)  Western  World  pronunciation  of 
Spanish  has  no  single  standard  or  norm  —  that  of 
Cuba  differs  from  that  of  Argentina  or  that  of 
Mexico,  and  so  on.  No  one  can  say  definitely 
what  South  American  pronunciation  of  Spanish 
is.  (2)  The  Castilian  pronunciation  is  recognized 
even  in  Spanish  America  as  providing  a  clear, 
satisfactory  standard.  One  who  uses  this  pronun- 
ciation, the  mark  of  an  educated  speaker  of  Spanish, 
is  immediately  understood  and  respected  therefor. 
(3)  Castilian  is  more  nearly  phonetic  than  South 
American  Spanish.  This  is  a  point  of  great  impor- 
tance in  the  acquirement  of  correct  spelling  ability, 
as,  for  instance,  in  the  mastery  of  the  orthographical- 
changing  verbs  —  for  example,  rezar,  veneer,  etc. 
Possible  confusion  of  meanings  is  avoided  in  the  case 
of  words  of  different  meanings  which  in  South  Amer- 
ica are  pronounced  alike  but  differently  in  Castile 
(cf.  cazar,  casar;  cocer,  coser).  (4)  One  speaking 
Castilian,  the  standard,  can,  by  very  little  practice, 
adopt  the  mode  of  speech  of  that  South  American 
country  in  which  he  may  happen  to  be,  should  he 
desire  to  do  so.  Likewise,  a  very  little  experience 
in  hearing  the  language  there  will  put  him  in  a 
condition  to  understand  perfectly  what  he  hears. 
One  accustomed  to  speak  and  understand  Spanish 
gives  no  more  than  passing  notice  to  any  peculiarities 


76  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

in  the  manner  of  speaking  of  the  person  with  whom  he 
is  conversing. 

Much  care  and  more  drill  are  necessary  in  teaching 
pronunciation.  "  Go  slowly  "  is  here  a  good  motto. 
A  correct  and  ready  pronunciation  of  Spanish  is  not 
easily  acquired.  It  is  true  that  Spanish  has  not 
so  many  sounds  radically  differing  from  those  in 
English  as  has  French.  But  there  are  several  that 
will  need  careful  attention,  such  as  inter-vocalic  and 
final  d,  the  b  and  the  v,  the  //  and  the  n,  the  final 
j,  the  jota,  the  semi-consonant  i,  open  and  close 
e  and  o.  These  especially  will  need  careful  explana- 
tion as  to  the  manner  of  production  by  the  vocal 
organs  and  plenty  of  drill  should  be  given  on  them. 
Emphasis  should  be  placed  on  the  Spanish  sounds 
that  differ  from  those  in  English  rather  than  upon 
the  sounds  similar  in  the  two  languages.  The  three 
simple  rules  for  the  stressing  of  Spanish  words  should 
be  taught  by  induction.  Drill  in  pronunciation  will 
necessarily  involve  drill  in  syllabic  accentuation.  A 
given  sound  should  be  taught  first  in  a  word  or 
phrase,  taken  preferably  from  the  vocabulary  of  the 
class  room,  and  then,  if  need  be,  singled  out  for 
careful  practice.  A  word  or  phrase  should  be  pro- 
nounced distinctly  several  times  by  the  teacher  before 
the  class  sees  it  on  the  board  or  in  print.  Individuals 
and  then  the  class  should  repeat.  Thus  will  be 
formed  first  the  auditory  image  of  the  expression. 
In  these  days  of  education  based  more  and  more  on 
appeals  to  the  eye,  the  necessity  of  building  up 
auditory  images,  especially  in  teaching  living  lan- 
guages,   must    be    insisted    upon.     One    prominent 


COURSE  OF  STUDY  FOR  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOLS     77 

phase  of  the  all-round  training  in  the  foreign  language 
which  we  have  previously  set  as  our  ideal  is  the 
development  of  ability  to  understand  by  hearing. 
Presentation  of  a  word  or  phrase  first  through  the 
ear  will,  if  steadily  practiced,  strengthen  greatly 
the  power  of  aural  perception.  The  visual  image 
of  the  word  should  be  secondary,  especially  with 
young  children  in  the  early  stages  of  the  study  of  a 
language. 

The  child's  imitative  powers  are  at  their  height 
in  the  Junior  High  School  period  and  his  organs  of 
speech  may  now  be  trained  in  enduring  habits  of 
correct  articulation  and  enunciation.  Hence  the 
necessity  of  much  correct  repetition  of  sounds  in 
words,  short  phrases,  and  breath  groups.  But 
blind  imitation  of  the  teacher  by  the  pupil  will 
usually  not  be  sufficient,  even  with  young  children. 
Careful,  lucid  explanations  by  the  teacher  of  how  the 
vocal  organs  are  placed  in  forming  a  given  sound,  the 
use  of  a  mirror  in  the  hands  of  the  pupil  to  help 
him  see  how  to  place  his  vocal  organs  in  imitation 
of  the  teacher,  sketches  of  the  positions  of  the  vocal 
organs,  the  use  of  a  vowel  chart  —  in  short,  practical 
phonetics  to  aid  in  every  possible  way  the  production 
of  correct  Spanish  sounds  should  be  constantly 
brought  into  use.  Of  course  the  terminology  of  the 
phonetician  is  utterly  out  of  place  in  the  class,  as 
are  also,  in  Spanish,  the  symbols  of  phonetic  tran- 
scription. 

The  next  step  is  automatization  of  pronunciation. 
This  is  accomplished  by  drill,  and  the  basis  of  drill  is 
repetition.     Individual    and    concert    repetition    of 


78  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

sound  groups  should  be  practiced  at  regular  intervals. 
The  first  five  minutes  of  each  period  for  the  first  half 
year  can  profitably  be  spent  in  lively  repetition  in 
concert  of  a  set  of  sentences  read  at  the  previous 
recitation. 

The  steps  in  teaching  pronunciation  are,  then,  (i) 
careful  model  enunciation  by  the  teacher,  (2)  re- 
production by  the  pupils  of  the  sound  or  sounds 
heard,  (3)  the  visual  presentation  of  the  word  in 
writing,  and  (4)  drill,  regular  and  unceasing,  upon 
words  and  breath  groups. 

In  this  early  teaching  of  pronunciation  and,  in 
fact,  throughout  the  course,  the  endeavor  should  be 
made  constantly  to  associate  with  the  sound  of 
words  and  phrases  their  sense.  Pizarra  not  only 
affords  good  practice  for  the  rr  but  the  whole  vocable 
should  be  directly  connected  in  thought  with  black- 
board. Puerta,  silla,  mesa,  tiza,  libro,  should  be 
presented  not  only  as  material  for  pronunciation 
but  the  pronunciation  of  the  words  should  evoke  in 
the  child's  mind  pictures  of  the  objects  designated. 

Vocabulary  by  the  Series  Method 

The  first  vocabularies  taught  should  be  the  names 
of  the  objects  of  the  class  room,  the  material  closest 
at  hand.  Objective  material,  direct  method  of 
approach,  oral  practice,  frequent  repetition,  the 
introduction  of  verbs  (present  tense  only)  in  simple 
series  a  la  Gouin,  should  be  used.  The  series  method 
will  be  most  helpful.  There  should  be  developed 
two  kinds  of  these  series,  the  unit  of  connected  facts 


COURSE  OF  STUDY  FOR  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOLS     79 

and  the  unit  of  connected  actions.     As  examples  of 
what  is  meant,  the  following  will  possibly  serve : 

Series  Unit  of  Connected  Facts  (Noun  Unit) 

La  sala  de  clase 

Esto  es  una  sala  de  clase.  La  sala  es  grande  y  comoda. 
Tiene  seis  ventanas  y  dos  puertas.  Hay  en  la  sala 
treinta  asientos.  Las  pizarras  son  negras  y  las  paredes 
son  blancas.  El  techo  es  muy  alto.  El  suelo  es  de 
madera.  Hay  un  mapa  contra  la  pared.  Es  un  mapa 
de  Espafia.  Sobre  la  mesa  del  maestro  hay  libros, 
papeles,  plumas  y  un  tintero. 

Series  Unit  of  Connected  Actions  (Verbal  Unit) 

Escribiendo  una  carta 

Deseo  escribir  una  carta.  Tomo  pluma,  tinta,  papel 
y  papel  secante.  Me  siento  a  la  mesa.  Meto  la  pluma 
en  la  tinta.  Escribo  el  nombre  del  lugar,  Miramontes. 
Afiado  la  f echa,  a  26  de  julio  de  1917,  Luego  pongo :  Mi 
querido  amigo  Juan.  A  Juan  le  digo  muchas  cosas. 
Firmo  la  carta.  La  meto  en  un  sobre.  Pongo  en  el  la 
direction  de  mi  amigo.    Echo  la  carta  en  el  buzon. 

Series  units  similar  to  those  given  above  may  be 
planned  on  such  topics  as  the  Spanish  class,  the 
home,  the  family,  the  seasons,  the  time  of  day,  the 
state  of  health,  meals,  going  to  bed  and  getting  up, 
the  city,  shopping,  calling  on  a  friend,  place  of 
residence,  receiving  a  letter,  the  country,  animals, 
vegetables,  and  so  forth.     Where,  the  inexperienced 


80  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

teacher  of  Spanish  may  ask,  shall  I  get  the  material 
for  this  kind  of  work  ?  What  text  book  provides 
it?  None,  that  the  author  knows  of,  has  as  yet 
been  published  that  gives  such  material  in  kind 
and  amount  especially  adapted  for  the  Junior  High 
School.  But  there  are  at  least  two  books  that  the 
teacher  can  himself  adapt  to  this  kind  of  work  — 
Hall's  Poco  a  Poco  (World  Book  Company)  and 
Roberts'  First  Book  in  Spanish  (E.  P.  Dutton  and 
Company). 

Reading 

About  the  reading  should  be  centered  the  greater 
part  of  the  work  of  the  first  yeaf.  Difficult  literary 
material  should  be  taboo.  A  reader  of  constructed 
text  but  written  in  the  best,  though  simple,  Spanish 
should  be  used.  The  reading  lesson  is  probably 
the  best  test  of  a  teacher's  ingenuity  in  methods  and 
devices.  These  are  some  of  the  ways  in  which  a 
simple  beginning  reader  in  Spanish  should  be  used  : 
The  teacher  reads  aloud  a  short  passage  while  the 
glass  listens  with  books  closed,  then  again  with  books 
open.  The  individual  pupil  reads  aloud  the  same 
passage.  Then  the  entire  class  reads  the  passage 
aloud  while  the  teacher  listens  closely  for  incorrect 
pronunciation  as  the  conductor  of  an  orchestra 
listens  for  false  notes.  No  translation  should  be 
practiced,  except  possibly  by  the  teacher  of  a  word 
or  phrase  here  and  there  whose  meaning  is  most 
quickly  clarified  by  recourse  to  English. 

Question  and  answer  in  Spanish  between  teacher 


COURSE  OF  STUDY  FOR  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOLS     8 1 

and  pupil  or  pupil  and  pupil  about  the  paragraph 
read  are  in  place.  Questions  should  always  be 
answered  in  complete  sentences.  Special  attention 
should  be  paid  to  the  correct  verb  form  in  both 
question  and  answer.  It  is  sometimes  well  to  require 
the  pupil  to  repeat  the  question  before  answering 
it  in  Spanish.  The  questioning  may  at  times  be 
gradually  transferred  from  the  incident  or  situation 
in  the  passage  read  to  situations  and  incidents  in 
the  pupil's  daily  life  or  experience.  The  passage 
read  may  be  manipulated  by  having  it  reread 
or  rewritten  with  changes  in  person  and  number 
(and  later  in  the  tense)  of  the  verbs.  A  passage 
read  on  a  previous  day  may  be  used  for  dictation 
and  later  a  paragraph  not  yet  read  may  be  used  for 
that  purpose.  Oral  summaries  of  a  paragraph  or  short 
page  may  be  made  in  Spanish  by  the  pupils  after  the 
teacher  has  shown  by  example  how  to  do  this.  Occa- 
sionally the  summary  may  be  made  in  English  with 
books  closed.  Or  it  may  be  given  in  writing  in  English 
or  Spanish,  these  written  summaries  being  prepared 
in  class  or  at  home  with  books  closed  or  open.  This 
summarizing  may  be  developed,  when  first  practiced, 
by  skillful  questioning  by  the  teacher. 

A  paragraph  may  be  memorized  after  being  read 
aloud  first  by  the  teacher  and  then  by  the  class, 
and  this  memory  work  may  be  reproduced  later 
both  orally  and  in  writing.  Oral  translation  from 
oral  reading  may  be  occasionally  practiced.  The 
teacher  reads  to  the  class,  whose  books  are  closed, 
the  Spanish  text,  one  sentence  at  a  time,  selecting 
after  each  sentence  a  member  of  the  class  to  give 


82  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

the  thought  in  English.  Care  is  taken  that  this 
should  not  be  a  word-for-word  translation.  This 
work  is  done  first  only  with  matter  already  studied ; 
later,  new  matter  may  be  used,  preferably  that  of  the 
next  lesson  which  has  not  yet  been  prepared. 

Explanations  of  grammatical  points  that  may  come 
up  in  the  reading  should  be  as  clear  and  simple  as 
possible.  But  better  than  much  explanation  is  much 
practice  on  these  points,  if  the  time  has  arrived  for 
thus  emphasizing  the  point  in  question.  Anecdotes 
and  incidents  of  the  reading  may  be  dramatized.  It 
will  be  found  that  the  children  will  take  great 
delight  in  preparing  little  plays  based  on  their  read- 
ing for  presentation  before  the  class.  Committees 
may  be  appointed  to  "  put  on  "  a  play  at  a  future 
date  based  on  such  and  such  a  story  or  incident. 
When  a  pupil  reads  aloud  attention  will  be  centered 
upon  his  pronunciation  and  his  whole  recitation  by 
having  hini  stand  before  the  class.  Incidentally  this 
will  afford  the  teacher  a  good  opportunity  to  inspect 
the  reading  book  for  possible  interlinear  literary 
efforts. 

Grammar 

No  attempt  should  be  made  in  the  first  year  to 
teach  formal  grammar.  No  text  book  in  grammar 
should  be  given  the  pupil.  And  yet  "  there  is  a  kind 
and  degree  of  organization  that  will  be  helpful."1 
Attention    should    be    centered    upon    the    simpler 

1 A  statement  by  Dr.  Walter  L.  Hervey  of  the  Board  of  Ex- 
aminers, Department  of  Education,  New  York  City,  in  Premier 
Secours,  First  Aid  in  Learning  French,  Suggestions  to  teachers, 
page  14;  Association  Press,  New  York,  191 7. 


COURSE  OF  STUDY  FOR  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOLS     83 

phenomena  of  the  inflection  of  articles,  nouns, 
adjectives,  and  personal  subject  pronouns  and  object 
pronouns.  Special  drill  should  be  given  upon  the 
verb,  which  is  the  backbone  of  the  language.  The 
series  work  and  the  reading  will  offer  opportunity  for 
this,  thus  making  the  presentation  of  points  of 
grammar  inductive.  Irregular  vedbs  can  be  taught  as 
easily  as  regular  verbs.  In  fact,  no  mention  need  be 
made  of  the  distinctions  between  regular  and  irregular 
verbs.  In  the  first  year  the  following  tenses  of  the 
indicative  should  be  well  taught :  present,  preterite, 
imperfect.  The  subjunctive  used  as  imperative  is  so 
necessary  from  the  start  that  practice  (but  little 
theory)  should  be  given  in  the  formation  of  the 
present  subjunctive  for  use  in  commands.  The  con- 
jugation of  verbs  should  be  taught  only  in  a  phrase, 
as :  voy  a  la  casa,  vas  a  la  casa,  el>  ella  o  Vd.  va  a  la 
casa,  etc.  Questions  may  be  dictated  or  put  orally 
for  reply  in  such  a  way  that  the  answers  will  bring 
into  play  certain  principles  of  inflection  and  syntax. 
Based  on  the  reading,  incomplete  sentences  may  be 
given  to  be  completed  (with  missing  prepositions, 
verbs,  pronouns,  possessives,  and  so  forth).  Short 
sentences  may  be  given  to  be  made  plural  throughout. 
In  other  words,  grammar  may  be  taught  without 
once  using  the  word  "grammar".  Grammar  may  be 
learned  by  *  *  doing  tricks  with  the  language?,  by  "  ma- 
nipulation ". 

Dictation 

One  of  the  most  useful  exercises  for  the  young 
beginner  is   to   write   connected    Spanish   prose   at 


^s 


84  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

dictation.  This  should  be%of  the  simplest  character 
and  taken  at  first  from  matter  already  studied. 
Later  the  teacher  may  reshape  for  dictation  pur- 
poses a  paragraph  or  anecdote  previously  read.  It 
should  i^borne  in  mind  that  the  two  chief  objects 
of  dictation  are  (1)  to  train  and  test  for  correct 
hearing  of  the  passage  read  and  (2)  to  train  in 
spelling  ability.  Though  Spanish  is  more  nearly  a 
"  phonetic  -language "  than  any  other  modern 
tongue  (and  therefore  phonetic  transcription  of  it 
is  absolutely  unnecessary),  dictation  in  Spanish 
nevertheless  proyides  that  training  first  mentioned  — 
correct  hearing.  And,  as  we  have  already  remarked, 
Spanish  is  a  difficult  language  to  "  catch  with  the 
ear  ".  Dictation  should  have  an  ample  place  in  the 
work  set  for  the  beginner. 

Gradually  the  teacher  may  introduce  into  the  dic- 
tation material  before  unseen.  By  the  end  of 
the  second  year  the  pupil  should  be  able  to  write 
correctly,  though  he  may  not  always  understand, 
almost  any  paragraph  of  simple  prose.  As  a  device 
to  aid  in  correcting  dictation,  one  pupil  may  be  sent  to 
the  board  in  the  rear  of  the  room.  When  the  para- 
graph has  been  written,  pupils  may  exchange  papers, 
the  teacher  will  correct  the  passage  on  the  board  and 
the  class  will  turn  and  compare  with  the  board 
work  the  papers  they  then  have  in  hand.  In  giving 
dictation,  especially  of  entirely  new  or  reshaped 
material,  the  teacher  should,  of  course,  read  through 
the  entire  paragraph  first,  the  pupils  listening  but 
not  writing.  At  the  second  reading  the  pupils  will 
write  and  the  teacher  will  divide  the  sentences  into 


COURSE  OF  STUDY  FOR  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOLS     85 

the  connected  thought  groups  found  in  the  com- 
ponent phrases  and  clauses.  No  phrase  should  be 
reread  at  this  time.  One  final  rereading  should  be 
given  by  the  teacher  after  the  last  sentence  has  been 
taken  down.  Correction  by  the  pupils,  after  the  ex- 
change of  papers,  may  consist  merely  in  underscoring 
a  word  containing  an  error  of  any  kind.  Dictation 
papers  may  be  rewritten  correctly  and  filed  with  the 
teacher,  who  may  use  them  for  redictation. 

Pronunciation,  vocabulary  presented  in  series 
units,  reading,  informal  grammar,  and  dictation 
may  all  have  their  basis  in  a  reader  or  first  book 
similar  to  the  Hall  or  Roberts  books  mentioned  or 
in  a  reader  of  the  type  of  Harrison's  Elementary 
Spanish  Reader  (Ginn  and  Company),  Espinosa's 
Elementary  Spanish  Reader  (Benj.  H.  Sanborn  and 
Co.),  or  Roessler  and  Remy's  First  Spanish  Reader 
(American  Book  Company).  For  the  series  units, 
possibly  the  first  two  mentioned  supply  the  most 
satisfactory  kind  of  matter  for  the  teacher  to  use 
(the  books  need  not  be  given  to  the  pupils),  while 
any  one  of  the  last  three  books  named  may  be  used 
as  the  basis  for  all  the  other  work  suggested  and 
should  be  in  the  hands  of  the  pupils.  Some,  how- 
ever, will  wish  to  use  the  Hall  or  Roberts  book  and 
have  the  pupils  supplied  with  it  as  the  only  book 
used  by  the  class. 

The  amount  read  in  the  first  year  will  not  be  large, 
probably  not  over  75  pages,  for  much  working  over 
of  the  material  in  the  several  ways  mentioned  will 
be  necessary  —  dictation,  disguised  grammar  lessons, 
and  so  forth. 


86  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

Additional  Helps 

Under  this  heading  we  may  mention  illustrative 
material,  such  as :  wall  maps  of  Spain  and  Spanish- 
American  lands,  wall  pictures  of  scenes  from  every- 
day life  and  with  a  Spanish  atmosphere,  wall  charts 
showing  verb  endings,  positions  and  forms  of  the 
subject  and  object  pronouns,  placards  with  proverbs 
for  memorizing ;  realia  of  Spain  and  Spanish  America ; 
a  Spanish  club  or  clubs.  These  aids  will  be  discussed 
in  detail  later. 

Second  Year 

Pronunciation 

Drill  in  pronunciation  should  be  continued  with 
the  short  sentence  as  the  unit  of  practice.  This  will 
provide  opportunity  for  the  development  of  the 
proper  intonation  of  Spanish  sentences  —  a  phase 
of  work  to  which  too  little  attention  is  given  and 
which  is  acquired  best  in  childhood  when  the 
imitative  powers  are  most  active.  A  sentence  may 
be  pronounced  correctly  as  regards  the  sounds  of  its 
component  syllables  and  yet  be  unintelligible  to  the 
native  speaker  of  Spanish.  A  certain  delicacy  of 
enunciation  and  intonation  exists  in  Spanish  which 
is  very  difficult  for  the  English-speaking  person  to 
acquire.  Rapid-fire  concert  repetition  of  model 
sentences,  in  imitation  of  the  teacher,  should  be 
practiced  during  the  first  five  or  ten  minutes  of  each 
period.  The  use  of  practical  phonetics  should  be 
continued  as  necessary. 


COURSE  OF  STUDY  FOR  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOLS     87 

Vocabulary 

The  series  method  of  vocabulary  development  may 
be  laid  aside.  The  reading  will  provide  the  teacher 
with  opportunities  for  grouping  words  according  to 
the  simpler  associations  (1)  of  similarity  of  meaning 
(contestar,  responder,  replicar),  (2)  of  contrast  in 
meaning  (cerca,  lejos;  rico,  pobre ;  preguntar,  con- 
testar), and  (3)  of  parts  of  the  whole  (casa,  ventana, 
puerta,  tirador).  A  device  to  strengthen  these 
associations  consists  in  having  a  passage  reread  with 
substitutions  made  of  synonyms  or  antonyms.  Even 
with  young  children  this  is  possible  to  a  certain 
extent  after  a  few  short  exercises  of  this  kind  have 
been  worked  out  by  the  teacher  with  the  class, 
illustrating  the  ways  in  which  words  may  be  asso- 
ciated. 

Reading 

Again  must  we  say  that  the  reading  matter 
should  not  be  of  difficult  literary  character.  Simple 
stories,  anecdotes,  traditions,  bits  of  folk-lore, 
well-told  recitals  in  simple  Spanish  of  life  and  travel 
in  Spanish  lands,  are  in  place.  Needless  to  say,  all 
the  reading  matter  from  this  point  on  should  be 
distinctly  tinged  with  the  local  color  of  Spain, 
Argentina,  Cuba,  Mexico,  and  so  forth.  Memory 
passages  taken  from  the  reading  should  be  learned. 
Most  of  these  should  consist  of  prose,  for  no  doubt  a 
greater  appreciation  of  and  feeling  for  the  language 
can  be  developed  by  the  use  of  such  material  than 
by  the  use  of  poems.     However,  occasional  memoriz- 


88  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

ing  of  poetry  (such  as  El  Burro  Flautista)  is  pertinent. 
The  methods  and  devices  suggested  in  the  outline  for 
the  first  year  for  treating  the  reading  material  are, 
of  course,  still  applicable.  The  reading  will  be  the 
basis  of  the  second  year's  work  as  it  was  in  the  first 
year's.  The  amount  read  should  be  about  the  same 
as  that  for  the  first  year  if  the  reading  is  graduated  in 
difficulty. 

Grammar 

The  grammar  work  should  still  be  informal, 
incidental,  and  disguised  though  nevertheless  organ- 
ized and  systematic  in  an  increasing  degree.  No 
formal  grammar  text  should  yet  be  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  pupils.  The  method  of  accomplishing 
the  grammar  work  suggested  is  that  which  consists 
chiefly  in  substitutions,  transpositions,  the  filling  of 
blanks,  the  writing  of  original  sentences,  that  is, 
manipulations  and  reshapings.  Stress  upon  verbs 
should  be  continued.  The  future  and  conditional, 
the  perfect  and  the  pluperfect  tense  of  the  indicative 
should  be  introduced  and  practiced.  The  gerund 
and  the  past  participle  should  be  mastered.  The 
progressive  forms  of  the  tenses  should  be  drilled 
upon.  The  commoner  irregular  verbs,  ser,  estar,  tener, 
habery  decir,  dar,  querer,  hacer,  ir,  and  poder,  should  be 
made  familiar  in  the  five  simple  tenses  of  the  indica- 
tive. Reflexive  and  radical-changing  verbs  should 
be  practiced  in  the  present  tense.  Drill  on  the  sub- 
junctive as  imperative  should  be  continued.  Rela- 
tive pronouns  and  demonstrative  and  possessive 
adjectives  and  pronouns  should  be  worked  out  by 


COURSE  OF  STUDY  FOR  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOLS     89 

induction  and  practiced  in  exercises  devised  by  the 
teacher. 

Dictation 
Material  for  dictation  should  still  be  taken 
chiefly  from  the  reading,  but  toward  the  end  of  the 
second  year  more  and  more  material  not  before 
studied  should  be  worked  into  these  exercises,  until 
the  pupil  can  write  readily  any  simple  Spanish  that 
is  read  to  him.  A  variation  may  now  be  brought 
into  play,  namely,  the  reproduction  in  writing  of 
short  anecdotes  or  paragraphs  that  were  given  in 
dictation  the  preceding  day.  Brief,  snappy  dicta- 
tions should  be  given  two  or  three  times  a  week. 

Oral  Practice 

Oral  work  must  be  not  merely  frequent,  it  should 
be  constant.  Spanish  should  become  more  and 
more  the  language  of  the  classroom  as  the  vocabulary 
of  the  pupils  grows.  But  this  oral  work  should  never 
be  allowed  to  degenerate  into  mere  talk  for  the  sake 
of  talking.  There  should  be  a  reason,  an  aim,  in 
the  teacher's  mind,  for  every  step  in  this  as  well  as 
in  other  kinds  of  work  done  in  class.  Oral  practice 
is  directed  conversation  in  Spanish,  the  controlling 
purposes  of  which  are,  first,  to  "train  the  ear"  in 
hearing  aright ;  second,  to  give  practice  —  practice 
in  noun  inflection,  in  verb  conjugation,  in  the  agree- 
ment of  adjectives,  the  use  of  prepositions,  and  so 
forth;  third,  to  test  understanding  of  what  is  said 
or  written ;  fourth,  to  develop  correct  pronunciation 
and  power  of  expression  in  Spanish.     The  third 


90  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

purpose  could,  of  course,  be  done  as  well  in  English ; 
but  if  so  done  it  would  contribute  nothing  to  the 
accomplishment  of  the  fourth  purpose.  Incidentally, 
but  none  the  less  importantly,  oral  practice  is  an 
excellent  quickener  of  attention  and  interest. 


Third  Year 

Pronunciation 

Drill  in  pronunciation  should  be  chiefly  incidental 
to  other  work  in  the  third  year  of  the  course.  But 
the  unremitting  attention  of  the  teacher  should  make 
certain  a  correct  pronunciation  at  sight  of  ordinary 
prose  by  every  member  of  the  class.  The  proper 
accentuation  of  words,  a  comparatively  simple 
matter  in  Spanish,  should  now  be  nearly  automatic 
with  the  pupil.  Phrase  and  sentence  intonation  will 
still  need  considerable  attention. 

Vocabulary 

A  steady  broadening  of  the  pupil's  vocabulary 
should  be  sought  by  recourse  to  the  association  of 
meanings  of  words,  as  previously  described,  by 
studies  of  cognates  (valle,  valley;  azul,  azure; 
desear,  desire,  etc.),  and  by  competitions  such  as 
vocabulary  matches  in  which  two  leaders  "  choose 
sides "  as  in  the  old-fashioned  spelling  bee.  In- 
ability   to    give    the    Spanish    equivalent    for    the 


COURSE  OF  STUDY  FOR  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOLS     QI 

English  word  eliminates  a  contestant.     The  reading 
or  the  grammar  text  may  be  the  basis  for  this. 

Grammar 

For  the  first  time  technical  grammar  is  begun, 
the  text  for  this  being  the  simplest  available  and 
one  that  incorporates  the  latest  methods  in  present- 
ing the  facts  of  the  Spanish  language.  The  pupil's 
usual  horror  of  aught  that  bears  the  label 
"  grammar  "  by  now  will  have  been  largely  banished 
by  the  previous  training  he  has  received  more  or  less 
unwittingly  in  Spanish  grammar.  The  exercises 
of  the  text  used  should  be  mostly  of  the  kinds 
previously  suggested  in  the  outlines  of  the  work  of 
the  first  and  second  years.  There  should  be  little 
attempt  at  formal  translation  from  English  into 
Spanish.  Such  work  belongs  more  properly  to  the 
work  of  the  Senior  High  School  or  college.  Inductive 
methods,  memorizing  of  examples  of  rules  rather 
than  of  rules  themselves,  should  be  observed. 

This  grammar  work  will  serve  at  least  three  pur- 
poses :  (1)  It  will  systemize  and  summarize 
grammatical  points  already  studied  in  the  first 
two  years  in  connection  with  the  series  and  reading 
work.  (2)  It  will  afford  a  sort  of  transition  from 
the  unreflective,  imitative  period  of  language  study 
in  the  Junior  High  School  to  the  reflective  and 
rationalized  study  of  the  Senior  High  School.  The 
child,  now  at  least  fourteen  years  of  age,  is  beginning 
to  seek  the  "  why  "  of  things,  to  "  think  things  out  ", 
as  we  say.     (3)   It  will  lay  the  foundation  for  a 


92  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

thorough  knowledge  of  grammar :  "  that  bony  struc- 
ture of  language  which  prevents  the  whole  body 
from  slumping  into  invertebrate  flabbiness.,,  l 

Among  the  matters  of  grammar  now  studied 
should  be :  A  review  and  intensification  of  the 
previous  two  years  of  informal  grammar,  including 
the  inflection  of  adjectives,  nouns,  and  articles, 
pronouns  personal  and  relative,  possessive  and 
demonstrative  adjectives  and  pronouns,  numerals 
cardinal  and  ordinal,  regular  verbs  in  all  the  tenses 
simple  and  compound  of  the  indicative,  reflexive  and 
radical-changing  verbs  in  the  present  tense,  the 
irregular  verbs  already  cited  in  all  the  tenses  of  the 
indicative,  and  the  additional  irregular  verbs  ver, 
venir,  salir,  saber,  poner,  oir,  and  traer  in  the  same 
forms ;  likewise  the  orthographical-changing  verbs. 
Much  drill  and  practice,  oral  and  written,  upon  these 
essentials  should  be  the  watchword. 

The  grammar,  from  this  time  forward,  should 
occupy  a  place  of  importance  equal  to  that  held  by 
reading. 

Reading 

About  one  hundred  pages  of  easy  prose  should  be 
read  in  the  third  year.  Previously  suggested 
methods  of  handling  reading  matter  still  apply. 
But  at  this  period  should  begin  a  careful  and 
systematic  study  of  idiomatic  expressions  or  locu- 
tions.    These  should  be  memorized   and   recast  in 

1 A  Revised  Course  Syllabus  for  a  Three- Year  High  School 
Course  in  German,  by  Professor  James  Taft  Hatfield  in  School 
Review,  September,  191 5. 


COURSE  OF  STUDY  FOR  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOLS    93 

original  sentences.  Notebooks  should  be  kept  for 
this  purpose  and  frequent  reviews  of  these  idioms 
should  be  made  and  short  tests  given  upon  them. 
The  reading  should,  as  in  previous  years,  be  rep- 
resentative of  Spanish  or  Spanish-American  life 
and  customs.  Or  world-old  tales  and  traditions, 
some  of  which  are  already  known  to  the  pupils  in 
English  versions,  will  be  suitable  material.  Reading 
a  tale  of  this  sort  is  like  meeting  an  old  friend  after 
a  long  absence  or  in  a  new  dress.  Anticipation  of 
the  meaning  of  a  passage  aids  greatly  in  the  "  sens- 
ing "  of  the  meaning  of  new  words.  Selections 
relating  in  simple  language  great  historical  events 
of  Spanish  lands  would  supply  desirable  text. 
General  informational  articles  about  Hispanic  Amer- 
ica or  Spain  will  provide  excellent  matter  for  this 
stage  of  the  reading  work. 


Dictation 

This  form  of  aural  testing  should  be  continued, 
several  minutes  being  devoted  about  three  times  a 
week  to  this  exercise.  Easy  prose  not  previously 
seen  or  heard  by  the  class  should  be  used. 


Self-drill 

The  pupil's  training  and  age  are  now  such  that  he 
may  be  made  to  see  the  importance  of  self-drill  in 
learning  Spanish.  He  may  be  told,  for  instance, 
that  of  the  168  hours  in  the  week  in  not  more  than 


94  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

six  or  seven  of  them  at  the  most  is  he  learning  to 
think  in  Spanish.  In  the  remaining  time  he  is 
reading,  speaking,  thinking,  or  dreaming  in  English 
(or  Yiddish  or  Italian  or  what  not).  Now  if  he 
would  master  Spanish  he  must  practice  outside 
the  schoolroom  as  much  as  or  more  than  he  does 
in  class,  where  his  teacher  probably  has  35  or  40 
pupils  to  drill  in  as  many  minutes.  Unless  he 
lives  in  New  York  City  or  in  the  Southwest  or  the 
Far  West,  he  will  have  very  little  opportunity  to 
practice  Spanish  w  th  Spanish-speaking  people  out- 
side of  school.  He  must,  then,  drill  himself.  It 
takes  years  of  practice  to  learn  to  play  the  violin 
even  passably  well.  Likewise,  to  speak  Spanish 
well  a  great  amount  of  practice  is  necessary.  To 
encourage  self-drill,  the  teacher  should  show  his 
pupils  how  to  accomplish  it,  telling  them  that  it  is 
not  a  difficult  matter  to  do  so.  The  chief  requisite 
is  "  stick-to-it-iveness  ".  They  should  read  aloud  to 
themselves  (after  they  have  acquired  a  good  pro- 
nunciation), say  the  numbers  in  Spanish  which  they 
see  here  and  there  —  on  street  cars,  automobiles, 
street  signs,  and  advertisements,  count  in  Spanish 
their  steps  as  they  walk  along  the  street  or  climb 
stairs,  carry  on  conversations  with  themselves  in 
Spanish  about  such  matters  as  the  weather,  the 
time  of  day,  and  so  forth,  say  in  Spanish  phrases 
they  see  in  advertisements,  talk  Spanish  to  their 
fellow-students  of  the  language,  in  fact,  try  to  use 
Spanish  in  as  many  ways  and  as  often  as  possible. 

Little  stress,  so  far  as  the  author  knows,  seems 
ever  to  have  been  placed  upon  the  necessity  of  self- 


COURSE  OF  STUDY  FOR  JUNIOR  HIGH  SCHOOLS    95 

drill  in  learning  a  language,  and  few  teachers  give 
to  their  students  instructions  as  to  how  to  drill 
themselves.  The  sooner  a  student  is  taught  to  do 
this,  the  sooner  and  the  more  certainly  will  he  begin 
to  think  in  Spanish. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  RELATION  OF  THIS  COURSE  OF  STUDY  TO  THAT 
OF  THE  FOUR-YEAR  HIGH  SCHOOL  AND  TO  THAT 
OF  THE  SENIOR  HIGH  SCHOOL 

Let  us  consider  now  the  status  of  the  student  who 
will  have  completed  our  syllabus  for  Junior  High 
Schools,  as  given  in  Chapter  VII,  with  relation,  first, 
to  the  present  four-year  High  School  and,  second, 
to  the  three-year  Senior  High  School,  which  is  the 
complement  of  the  three-year  Junior  High  School  in 
the  reorganized  system  as  ordinarily  planned. 

For  this  purpose  let  us  take  what  may  possibly 
be  considered  a  fairly  well  planned  syllabus  of 
minima  for  the  present-day  High  School.  This  was 
prepared  for  the  high  schools  of  New  York  City  and 
was  first  printed  in  the  spring  of  I9I7.X  It  does  not 
comprise  books  that  were  not  presented  for  adoption 
April  15,  1 91 7,  when  additions  were  made  to  the  New 

1  In  the  Bulletin  of  High  Points  in  the  Teaching  of  Modern 
Language  in  the  High  Schools  of  New  York  City,  issue  of  May, 
191 7.  The  committee  that  prepared  the  syllabus  consisted  of: 
L.  A.  Wilkins,  Chairman;  E.  S.  Harrison,  Commercial  High 
School;  Miss  Anita  Thomas,  High  School  of  Commerce; 
Miss  Herlinda  G.  Smithers,  Bay  Ridge  High  School;  and 
Leon  Sinagnan,  Stuyvesant  High  School. 

96 


RELATION  OF  THIS   COURSE  TO  OTHERS  97 

York  City  list  nor,  of  course,  does  it  comprise  books 
that  have  appeared  since  that  date.  From  this 
point  to  the  end  of  the  syllabus  on  page  108  of 
this  book  the  matter  is  quoted. 


Syllabus  of  Minima  in  Spanish 

It  is  expected  that  the  various  departments  of  Spanish 
will  follow  these  minima  as  here  set  in  both  grammar  and 
reading.  It  will  be  noted  that  there  is  nothing  in  these 
outlines  to  prevent  a  school  from  doing  more  than  that 
which  is  here  suggested.  What  has  been  given  is  con- 
sidered by  the  Committee  as  the  barest  essentials  in  each 
term  of  work.  It  is  presumed  in  these  minima  that 
Spanish  is  being  studied  as  a  first  foreign  language  by  the 
high  school  student. 

No  particular  texts  are  recommended  in  grammar.  A 
number  of  different  ones  are  available.  The  reading  lists 
given  have  been  made  after  very  careful  consideration 
and  are  the  result,  in  most  cases,  of  experience  with  these 
books  in  the  classroom  in  the  term  indicated.  In  the 
reading  outlined  it  may  seem  desirable  in  some  cases  to 
use  in  the  work  of  some  one  term  a  book  that  has  been 
mentioned  for  use  in  an  immediately  previous  term. 

All  books  are  arranged  in  order  of  their  list  numbers 
as  they  appear  in  the  catalogue  of  textbooks  authorized 
for  use  in  the  High  Schools  of  New  York  City. 


THE  AIM  IN  TEACHING  SPANISH 

(This  is  stated  in  the  same  manner  as  on  page  65   of 
this  book.) 


98  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 


PRELIMINARY  POINTS 

It  is  expected  that  considerable  attention  will  be  given 
in  the  first  term  to : 

(i)  Pronunciation  —  that  used  in  Castile.  Blind  imitation 
of  a  teacher's  pronunciation  is  often  unsatisfactory.  The  use 
of  practical  phonetics  is  strongly  advised,  such  as  the  use  of  a 
mirror  in  the  hands  of  the  pupil  in  helping  him  to  place  correctly 
the  vocal  organs.  Much  drill  should  be  given,  especially  on 
sounds  differing  from  English,  as,  for  example,  the  jota. 

(2)  The  three  rules  for  accentuation  of  Spanish  words.  Drill 
on  same. 

(3)  Classroom  expressions,  such  as  those  provided  in  several 
of  the  grammars  and  readers  or  in  the  pamphlet,  "  Classroom 
Spanish  ",  Solano,  D.  C.  Heath  and  Company. 


FIRST  TERM 

GRAMMAR 

ARTICLES.     Forms  of  definite  and  undefinite. 

NOUNS.     Gender  and  formation  of  the  plural. 

ADJECTIVES.     Agreement,  formation  of  plural,  position. 

POSSESSIVES.     Adjectives  and  pronouns. 

DEMONSTRATIVES.    Adjectives  and  pronouns. 

PERSONAL  PRONOUNS.  Subject,  indirect  object,  direct 
object,  prepositional  forms.  The  use  of  only  one  object  pro- 
noun with  the  verb. 

VERBS.  Regular.  Past  participle;  present,  imperfect, 
preterite  of  the  simple  tenses;  the  perfect  only  among  the 
compound  tenses.     All  in  the  indicative  mood. 

Irregular.  Past  participle ;  present,  imperfect  and  preterite  of 
the  simple  tenses  and  the  perfect  of  the  following  verbs :  ser,  estar, 
tener,  haber,  decir,  and  dar.  The  present  tense  of  the  verbs: 
querer,  hacer,  poder,  ir,  ver.     All  these  in  the  indicative  only. 

IDIOMS.     Tener  que;  tener  hambre,  sed,  calor,  frio,  miedo. 


RELATION  OF  THIS   COURSE  TO  OTHERS  99 

MISCELLANEOUS.  Days  of  the  week;  months  and 
seasons  of  the  year;   cardinal  numerals  1  to  100. 

MEMORY  WORK 

Ten  lines  of  prose  or  poetry. 

DICTATION 
Frequent  dictation  of  reading  matter  previously  studied. 

READING 

Suggested  :   25  pages  selected  from  the  following  texts : 
4181  —  Harrison:    Elementary   Spanish    Reader,  Ginn  & 

Co. 
9147  —  Roessler  &  Remy :   First  Spanish  Reader,  American 

Book  Co. 
1 1256  —  Espmosa:   Elementary  Spanish  Reader,  Sanborn  & 
Co.     ^"^ 

SECOND  TERM 

GRAMMAR 

PERSONAL  PRONOUNS.  The  use  of  two  object  pronouns 
with  the  verb.     Much  drill  on  all  possibilities. 

RELATIVE  PRONOUNS.    Forms  and  uses. 

VERBS.  All  verbs  of  the  first  term  to  be  mastered  in  all  the 
simple  and  compound  tenses  of  the  indicative  which  have  not 
already  been  mentioned.  In  addition,  orthographical-changing, 
radical-changing,  inceptive  ending  and  reflexive  verbs';  also  the 
irregular  verbs,  venir,  salir,  saber,  poner,  oir,  traer  —  all  these 
verbs  to  be  studied  in  the  tenses  already  indicated  in  the  work 
of  the  first  and  second  terms.  The  present  participle,  and  the 
progressive  tenses  of  regular  verbs  and  all  irregular  verbs  thus 
far  mentioned  to  be  learned.  Simpler  uses  of  the  present  sub- 
junctive. 


IOO  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

MISCELLANEOUS.    Cardinal  numerals  ioo  to  iooo. 

MEMORY  WORK 

Twenty  lines  of  prose  or  poetry. 

DICTATION 

Frequent  dictation  of  material  previously  read. 

READING 

Suggested :   40  pages  selected  from  the  following  texts : 
4164 — Bransby:    A   Progressive  Spanish   Reader,   D.   C. 

Heath  &  Co. 
4181 — Harrison:    Elementary  Spanish  Reader. 
9147  —  Roessler  &  Remy :   First  Spanish  Reader,  American 

Book  Co. 
1 1254  —  Berge-Soler    &    Hathaway:     Elementary    Spanish- 
American  Reader,  Sanborn  &  Co. 
1 1 256  —  Espinosa:   Elementary  Spanish  Reader,  Sanborn  & 

Co. 
1 1 259  —  Harrison :  Intermediate  Spanish  Reader,  Ginn  &  Co. 


THIRD  TERM 
GRAMMAR 

VERBS.  The  subjunctive  mood;  present,  imperfect  (two 
forms),  perfect  and  pluperfect  (two  forms)  of  all  verbs  in  items 
in  terms  1  and  2.  The  use  of  the  subjunctive  in  main  clauses  and 
in  subordinate  clauses.  Conditional  sentences  contrary  to  fact  in 
present  and  past  time.  The  imperative  mood;  the  subjunctive 
used  as  imperative  and  the  real  imperative.  All  irregular  verbs 
in  indicative  and  subjunctive,  simple  and  compound  tenses. 

MISCELLANEOUS.  Cardinal  numerals  to  1,000,000;  ordi- 
nals to  1 2th. 


RELATION  OF  THIS   COURSE  TO  'OTHERS  JOI 

MEMORY  WORK 

Thirty  to  forty  lines  of  prose  or  poetry. 


DICTATION 

Dictation  at  least  twice  a  week  of  material  previously  studied 
and,  later  in  the  term,  of  simple  material  not  seen  before. 


COMPOSITION 

It  may  be  desired  in  some  schools  to  begin  here  the  compo- 
sition work  outlined  in  the  fourth  term. 


READING 

Suggested :   75  pages  selected  from  the  following  texts : 
4170  —  DeHaan  &  Morrison:    Cuentos  Modernos,  D.  C. 

Heath  &  Co. 
4178  —  Giese  &  Cool:   Spanish  Anecdotes,  D.  C.  Heath  & 

Co. 
4184  —  Hills:    Spanish  Tales  for  Beginners,  Henrv  Holt  & 

Co. 
4188  —  Johnson :   Cuentos  Modernos,  American  Book  Co. 
9139  —  Escrich  :   Fortuna,  Ginn  &  Co. 
9148  —  Taboada:   Cuentos  Alegres,  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 
1 1254  —  Berge-Soler   &   Hathaway:      Elementary   Spanish- 
American  Reader,  Sanborn  &  Co. 
11260  —  Luquiens:    Elementary  Spanish- American  Reader, 

The  Macmillan  Co. 
1 1 273  —  Wilkins  &  Luria :  Lecturas  Faciles,  Silver,  Burdett  & 
Co. 


.102  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

FOURTH  TERM 
GRAMMAR 

Review  of  the  essentials  of  Spanish  grammar  with  particular 
attention  to  radical-changing,  orthographical-changing  and  irreg- 
ular verbs.  Much  drill  on  the  subjunctive  and  upon  personal 
pronouns. 

MEMORY  WORK 
Parts  of  plays  and  entire  short  poems. 

DICTATION 

Frequent  dictation  of  material  not  previously  studied. 

COMPOSITION 

Suggested :  About  twelve  or  fifteen  lessons  from  one  of  the 
following  texts : 

4201  —  Umphrey :    Spanish  Prose  Composition,  American 

Book  Co. 
8220  —  Crawford :  Spanish  Composition,  Henry  Holt  &  Co. 
1 1 272  —  Wilkins:  Elementary  Spanish  Prose  Book,  Sanborn 
&  Co. 

READING 

Suggested  :   80  pages  from  the  following  texts  : 

4161  —  Alarcon :   El  Capitan  Veneno,  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 

4162  —  Alarcon:  Novelas  Cortas  Escogidas,  D.  C.  Heath  & 
Co. 

4165  —  Caballero:   La  Familia  de  Alvareda,  Henry  Holt  & 

Co. 
4200  —  Turrell :  A  Spanish  Reader  for  Beginners,  American 

Book  Co. 
8218  —  Alarcon :   El  Capitan  Veneno,  American  Book  Co. 


RELATION  OF  THIS  COURSE  TO  OTHERS  103 

8225  —  Morrison :    Tres  Comedias  Modernas,  Henry  Holt 

&Co. 
8231  —  Selgas:    La  Mariposa   Blanca   (except  chapter  I), 

Henry  Holt  &  Co. 

9136  —  Alarcon:   Novelas  Cortas,  Ginn  &  Co. 

9137  —  Asensi:   Victoria  y  Otros  Cuentos,  D.  C.  Heath  & 
Co. 

9143  —  Downer  &  Ellas:  Lecturas  Modernas,  D.  C.  Heath 

&  Co. 
11258  —  Isla:  Gil  Bias,  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 
11260  —  Luquiens:    Elementary  Spanish-American  Reader, 

Macmillan  Company. 
1 1 273  — Wilkins  &  Luria:   Lecturas  Faciles,  Silver,  Burdett 

&Co. 


FIFTH  TERM 

It  is  suggested  that  no  differentiation  allowing  for  commercial 
work  in  Spanish  be  made  until  in  the  fifth  term.  From  this 
point  on  the  reading  and  the  composition  have  been  divided  into 
(a)  literary  and  (b)  commercial  and  practical. 

GRAMMAR 

Review  of  material  covered  in  previous  terms.  A  text  to 
be  given  out  for  reference  work. 


MEMORY  WORK 

Parts  of  the  drama  read  or  poems  of  moderate  length  from 
standard  poets. 

DICTATION 

Letters,  social  and  commercial,  material  that  is  new  to  the 
class.  This  work  may  most  profitably  be  done  in  connection 
with  composition. 


104  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 


COMPOSITION 

A.  Literary.  Continuation  of  the  book  already  studied  in 
fourth  term  work.  Amount  to  be  about  one-third  more  than 
that  covered  in  the  fourth  term. 

B.  Commercial  and  practical.  Careful  study  of  some  twenty 
or  twenty-five  letters  taken  from  the  following  texts,  with  exer- 
cises based  thereon. 

4179  —  Graham  &  Oliver:    Spanish  Commercial  Practice, 
Part  I,  The  Macmillan  Company. 

4182  —  Harrison:    Spanish  Correspondence,  Henry  Holt  & 

Co. 
11271 — Whittem  &  Andrade :    Spanish  Commercial  Corre- 
spondence, D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 


READING 

Suggested :   1 00  pages  from  the  following  texts : 

A.  Literary. 

4167  —  Carrion- Aza:   Zaragiieta,  Silver,  Burdett  &  Co. 

4180  —  Gutierrez:   El  Trovador,  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 

4183 — Hills  &  Morley:    Modern  Spanish  Lyrics,  Henry 

Holt  &  Co.  (ten  poems). 
4186  —  Hills  &  Reinhardt:    Spanish  Short  Stories,  D.  C. 

Heath  &  Co. 
4195  —  Mesonero  Romanos  :   Selections,  Henry  Holt  &  Co. 

4202  —  Valdes :  Jose,  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 

4203  —  Valdes :   La  Hermana  San  Sulpicio,  Henry  Holt  & 
Co. 

1 1 25  5  —  Alarcon :  El  Sombrero  de  Tres  Picos,  D.  C.  Heath  & 
Co. 

B.  Commercial  and  Practical. 

4163  —  Bonilla:   Spanish  Daily  Life,  Newson  &  Co. 
8224  —  Harrison :    A  Spanish  Commercial  Reader,  Ginn  & 
Co. 

Magazines  and  newspapers  in  Spanish. 
Spanish  Edition  of  the  Bulletin  of  the  Pan  American 
Union. 


RELATION  OF  THIS   COURSE  TO  OTHERS         105 


SIXTH  TERM 
GRAMMAR 

A  review  as  needed,  especially  of  syntax.  Text  to  be  in 
the  hands  of  students  as  a  reference  book. 

COMPOSITION 

A.  Literary.  The  continuation  of  the  book  begun  in  the 
fourth  term  or  the  study  of  a  second  one  of  those  books  there 
suggested.  Amount  to  be  about  the  same  as  that  of  the  fifth 
term. 

B.  Commercial  and  Practical.  The  continuation  of  the  book 
begun  in  the  fifth  term.  Amount  to  be  covered  to  be  about 
one-third  more  than  that  of  the  fifth  term.     Or 

9152  —  Waxman :  A  Trip  to  South  America,  D.  C.  Heath  & 

Co. 
1 1 270  —  Warshaw:     Spanish- American   Composition    Book, 
Henr^  Holt  and  Co. 

READING 

Suggested :  about  1 50  pages  from  the  following  texts : 

A.  Literary. 

4183 — Hills  &  Morley:     Modern  Spanish  Lyrics,  Henry 

Holt  &  Co.  (ten  poems). 
4189  —  Blasco  Ibanez:  La  Barraca,  Henry  Holt  &  Co. 
4194  —  Moratin :   El  Si  de  las  Ninas,  American  Book  Co. 
9142  —  Galdos:   Marianela,  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 
1 1 261  — Valdes  :  La  Alegria  del  Capitan  Ribot,  D.  C.  Heath 

&Co. 

B.  Commercial  and  Practical. 

4163  —  Bonilla:    Spanish  Daily  Life,  Newson  &  Co. 

8224  —  Harrison :    A  Spanish  Commercial  Reader,  Ginn  & 

Co. 
1 1 269  —  Supple :  Spanish  Reader  of  South  American  History, 
The  Macmillan  Company. 
Spanish  magazines  and  newspapers. 


106  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

SEVENTH  TERM 

GRAMMAR 
Text  to  be  given  out  as  reference  and  for  review. 

COMPOSITION 

A.  Literary.  Frequent  summaries  in  Spanish  of  novels  read 
in  class ;   original  compositions  on  assigned  topics. 

B.  Commercial  and  Practical.  Amount  covered  to  be  about 
the  same  as  that  in  the  sixth  term. 

4179  —  Graham  &  Oliver:    Spanish   Commercial   Practice, 

Part  II,  The  Macmillan  Co. 
8229  —  Pitman :      Spanish     Commercial     Correspondence, 

Isaac  Pitman  &  Co. 
Original  answers  in  Spanish  by  students  to  Spanish 

letters  dictated  by  the  teacher. 

READING 

Suggested : *  100  pages  in  class  with  outside  required  reading 
of  from  80  to  100  pages,  taken  from  the  following  texts: 

A.    Literary. 

41 71  — Galdos:   Dona  Perfecta,  American  Book  Co. 

8228  —  Pardo  Bazan  :    Pascual  Lopez,  Ginn  &  Co. 

9146  —  Quintero:   Dona  Clarines,  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 
1 1 253  —  Becquer:   Legends,  Tales  and  Poems,  Ginn  &  Co. 
1 1 264 —  Pereda:   Pedro  Sanchez,  Ginn  &  Co. 
1 1 275  — Gil  y  Zarate:   Guzman  el  Bueno,  Ginn  &  Co. 

1  Of  the  books  named,  those  not  selected  for  class  reading 
may  be  used  for  outside  reading.  Better  still,  books  suggested 
for  use  in  the  term  immediately  previous  will  afford  excellent 
material  for  outside  reading. 


RELATION  OF  THIS  COURSE  TO  OTHERS         107 

B.    Commercial  and  Practical. 

1 1262  —  Morse:   Spanish- American  Life,  Scott,  Foresman  & 

Co. 

1 1263  —  Nelson:   Spanish-American  Reader,  D.  C.  Heath  & 

Co. 

EIGHTH  TERM 

GRAMMAR 
Text  to  be  given:out  for  reference  and  review. 

COMPOSITION 

A.  Literary.     Summaries    and    reports,    all    in    Spanish,   of 
outside  reading;   original  compositions  on  assigned  topics. 

B.  Commercial  and  Practical. 

4179  —  Graham   &  Oliver:     Spanish  Commercial  Practice, 

Part  II,  The  Macmillan  Co. 
8229  —  Pitman :  Spanish  Commercial  Correspondence,  Isaac 

Pitman  &  Co. 
1 1265  —  Macdonald  :    Manual  of  Spanish  Commercial  Cor- 
respondence, Isaac  Pitman  &  Co. 
Original  Spanish  letters  by  students  in  answer  to 
letters  and  advertisements  dictated  by  the  instruc- 
tor. 

READING 

Suggested:1  125  pages  in  class  with  outside  required  reading 
of  100  pages  taken  from  the  following  texts : 

A.    Literary. 
4166  —  Calderon  :   La  Vida  es  Suefio,  American  Book  Co. 
4204  —  Valera :   El  Comendador  Mendoza,  American  Book 

Co. 
8219  —  Cervantes :   Don  Quijote  (Selections),  D.  C.  Heath 

&Co. 

1  See  note  concerning  reading  for  the  seventh  term. 


108  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

B.    Commercial  and  Practical. 

4198 —  Quintana:   Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa,  Ginn  &  Co. 
914S  —  Pitman :    Spanish  Commercial  Reader,  Isaac  Pit- 
man &  Sons. 
1 1 262 —  Morse:    Spanish- American  Life,  Scott,  Foresman  & 

Co. 
1 1 263  —  Nelson:   Spanish-American  Reader,  D.  C.  Heath  & 
Co. 

NOTES 

Dictionaries  recommended  : 
4206  —  Cuyas :   Spanish  Dictionary,  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 

Direct  method  books  available  : 

8222  —  Hall :   All  Spanish  Method,  First  Book,  World  Book 

Co. 

8223  —  Hall :    All  Spanish  Method,  Second  Book,  World 

Book  Co. 
8230  —  Roberts :    First  Spanish  Book,  E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co. 
9144  —  Marion  and  Des  Garennes  :  Introduccion  a  la  Lengua 

Castellana,  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 

Grammars  and  beginning  books  available  and  recommended : 
•  4161  — Coester:   Spanish  Grammar,  Ginn  &  Co. 
4171  —  Dowling:    Reading,  Writing  and  Speaking  Spanish, 

American  Book  Co. 
4185  —  Hills  and  Ford  :  Spanish  Grammar,  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 
8226  —  Olmsted  and  Gordon  :  Abridged  Spanish  Grammar, 

Henry  Holt  &  Co. 
9138  —  DeVitis:   A  Spanish  Grammar  for  Beginners,  Allyn 
&  Bacon. 
.    9140  —  Espinosa  and  Allen  :  Elementary  Spanish  Grammar, 
American  Book  Co. 
91 5 1  —  Wagner :  Spanish  Grammar,  Geo.  Wahr  &  Co.,  Ann 

Arbor,  Mich. 
1 1257  —  Fuentes  and  Francois:  A  Practical  Spanish  Grammar, 

The  Macmillan  Co. 
1 1266-7-8  —  Sinagnan :     Foundation    Course    in    Spanish, 
Parts  I,  II,  and  III,  The  Macmillan  Co. 


RELATION  OF  THIS  COURSE  TO  OTHERS  109 

It  will  be  seen  by  comparing  the  work  we  have 
suggested  for  the  pupil  of  the  Junior  High  School 
with  the  syllabus  above  given  that  our  Junior  High 
School  pupil  will  have  completed  in  his  three  years 
practically  the  same  amount  of  grammar  as  that 
set  for  the  first  three  terms  —  one  year  and  a  half 
—  in  the  above  quoted  syllabus.  But  the  Junior 
High  School  student  will  have  read  approximately 
100  more  pages  of  Spanish  in  his  three  years  of  study 
than  the  student  of  the  ordinary  High  School  will 
have  read  in  his  three  terms  of  work.  It  will  not 
be  desirable  or  possible,  however,  to  assign  the 
Junior  High  School  pupil  to  a  class  more  advanced 
than  that  of  the  fourth  term  (second  half  of  the 
second  year)  in  the  ordinary  High  School.  The 
reading  work  and  the  grammar  drill  of  this  term 
will  provide  the  most  satisfactory  articulation  with 
and  continuation  of  his  present  knowledge  of  Spanish. 
It  may  seem  that  insufficient  credit  is  thus  allowed 
for  the  lower  school  work,  but  it  must  be  remembered 
(1)  that  the  pupil  began  the  language  at  an  age  when 
progress  had  to  be  slower  than  in  beginning  classes 
in  the  ordinary  High  School,  and  (2)  that,  as  com- 
pared with  the  progress  made  by  the  student  in  the 
first  three  terms  of  the  ordinary  high  school  course 
in  Spanish,  this  slower  progress  has  been  compen- 
sated for  by  a  more  thoroughly  assimilated  knowl- 
edge of  the  language,  a  better  developed  ability  to 
understand  the  spoken  language,  a  more  facile  oral 
ability,  and,  presumably,  a  greater  liking  for  lan- 
guage study,  for  one  of  the  tenets  of  the  Junior 
High  School  is  the  adaptation  of  the  course  to  the 


HO  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

needs  and  likings  of  the  pupil,  and,  moreover,  the 
kind  of  training  given  him  will  have  fostered  and 
promoted  a  liking  for  Spanish. 

From  this  point  on,  the  superior  orientation, 
receptivity,  and  drill  given  the  Junior  High  School 
student  will  enable  him  to  gather  greater  momentum 
than  can  his  fellow  student  of  this  fourth  term  class 
who  began  Spanish  in  the  first  term  of  the  ordinary 
High  School.  In  the  three  years  which  he  will 
pass  in  the  higher  school,  there  will  be  left  for  him 
but  five  terms,  two  and  a  half  years,  of  the  four- 
year  course  in  Spanish.  It  is  more  than  likely  that 
before  those  two  and  a  half  years  have  passed  he 
will  secure  advanced  standing  for  a  half  year  of  work 
and  thus  be  able  to  complete,  one  year  before  finish- 
ing the  upper  school,  four  years  of  Spanish  as  out- 
lined, for  example,  in  the  syllabus  above  given. 
This  will  leave  him  time  for  more  work  in  other 
modern  languages  or  Latin,  one  of  which  languages 
he  will  have  begun  as  his  second  foreign  language 
on  entering  the  upper  school. 

But  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  above-described 
awkward  articulation  of  the  Junior  High  School 
and  the  present  four-year  school  is  not  the  one  con- 
templated in  the  reorganization  of  our  secondary 
school  system.  The  logical,  psychological,  and  ped- 
agogical complement  of  the  three-year  Junior  High 
School  is  the  three-year  Senior  High  School,  between 
which  two  schools  articulation  is  close  and  perfect. 
The  Senior  High  School  course  in  Spanish  should, 
according  to  the  standard  adopted  in  our  preceding 
discussion,    begin    approximately    with    the    work 


RELATION  OF  THIS  COURSE  TO  OTHERS  III 

outlined  for  the  fourth  term  of  the  syllabus  quoted. 
That  is,  to  the  five  terms  of  work  remaining  in  the 
ordinary  High  School  above  the  first  three  terms, 
which  are  eliminated  as  suitable  for  the  Junior 
High  School,  must  be  added  one  term  of  work  to 
provide  for  six  years  of  Spanish  —  our  hypothesis 
—  in  the  secondary  school  period  of  six  years.  This 
may  be  effected  by  merely  adding  a  syllabus  for  a 
final  half  year,  but  the  better  continuity,  harmony, 
and  articulation  of  the  six-year  curriculum  will 
doubtless  require  enrichment  of  the  four-and-a-half 
year  course  (according  to  present  standards)  thus 
formed.  Wider  reading,  especially  outside  reading 
for  reports,  more  free  composition,  and,  in  the  final 
year,  an  intensive  review  and  study  of  Spanish 
grammar  from  the  standpoint  of  such  a  text  as 
Ramsey's  Spanish  Grammar,  are  advisable. 

It  will  be  noted  that  in  the  above  syllabus  the 
recommendation  is  made  that  no  differentiation 
of  course  allowing  for  commercial  Spanish  be  made 
until  the  fifth  term  (or  the  beginning  of  the  third 
year).  It  would  seem  advisable  in  the  Senior 
High  School  course  to  allow  for  this  differentiation 
not  until  the  fourth  term  (end  of  the  second  half  of 
the  second  year  of  the  Senior  High  School  course) 
which  would  be  the  seventh  term  in  the  above  syl- 
labus. An  elective  may  then  be  offered  of  com- 
mercial Spanish  for  those  desiring  such  training, 
and  they  should  be  placed  in  classes  separate  from 
those  who  continue  the  ordinary  academic  course 
in  the  language. 

Further  than  to  make  the  above  suggestions,  it 


112  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

is  not  intended  to  discuss  in  this  book  the  syllabus 
for  the  Senior  High  School.  But  it  will  be  noted 
that  we  have  available  in  this  volume  a  syllabus 
for  the  Junior  High  School  with  suggestions  as  to 
methods  of  teaching  it,  a  syllabus  for  the  ordinary 
High  School  prepared  by  a  committee  of  experienced 
high  school  teachers,  and,  finally,  suggestions  for 
the  syllabus  in  the  Senior  High  School,  which  school 
is,  as  yet,  even  less  completely  organized  (as  a  sep- 
arate school)  than  is  the  Junior  High  School. 

It  is  believed  that  the  methods  that  have  already 
been  suggested  for  the  Junior  High  School,  and  those 
that  are  given  in  subsequent  chapters  will  be  found 
almost,  if  not  quite,  as  pertinent  and  useful  for  the 
four-year  High  School  or  for  the  Senior  High  School. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  CLASSES 

A.  The  classroom 

The  classroom  or  rooms  (properly  equipped, 
lighted,  and  ventilated)  in  which  Spanish  is  taught 
should,  if  the  organization  of  the  school  can  be  so 
managed,  be  set  aside  for  this  one  purpose.  The 
Spanish  room  should  have  a  Spanish  "  atmosphere  ". 
The  walls,  the  blackboards,  the  teacher's  desk  should 
speak  of  Spain  and  Spanish  lands.  Maps,  charts, 
calendars,  framed  pictures,  colored  plates  (such  as 
those  that  can  be  taken  from  Blanco  y  Negro),  and 
posters  for  wall  decoration  will  provide  the  fitting 
medio  ambiente.  Maps,  drawings,  Spanish  proverbs 
and  poems  may  occupy  at  times  the  unused  black- 
board space.  On  the  teacher's  desk  will  be  found 
Spanish  magazines  and  newspapers  which  pupils 
may  use  out  of  class  and  even  take  home.  Possibly 
the  teacher  may  also  wish  to  have  thus  available 
a  few  books  on  Spanish  countries,  or  sets  of  post 
card  or  other  reproductions  of  Spanish  paintings.1 
Sets  of  coins  of  Spain,  Argentina,  and  other  lands 
will  be  kept  at  hand  for  teaching  the  coinage  system 
of  Spanish  nations.  The  doors  may  be  marked 
entrada  and  salida. 

1  For  suggestions  as  to  pictures  and  post  cards  see  Chapter 
XVII. 

113 


114  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

B.  The  size  of  classes 

The  dictates  of  abundant  experience,  common 
sense,  and  good  pedagogy,  the  needs  of  the  child, 
consideration  for  the  teacher,  the  conditions  requisite 
for  instruction  in  foreign  languages  according  to 
the  most  recent  ideas  (which  require  much  drill, 
oral  practice,  and  attention  to  the  individual  pupil) 
all  demand  smaller  classes  in  Spanish  than  prevail 
at  present.1  Year  after  year,  resolutions  and  peti- 
tions of  modern  language  associations  in  the  United 
States  have  prayed  for  relief  in  the  matter  of  large 
classes  in  the  public  high  schools.  Slight  has  been 
the  relief  granted,  but  constantly  greater  (and  rightly) 
have  been  the  demands  of  school  authorities  for 
better  results  in  foreign  language  instruction.  The 
teachers  themselves  have  been  progressive  and  alert, 
and  it  is  for  that  reason  that  in  the  past  ten  years 
the  level  of  modern  language  instruction  in  this 
country  has  been  constantly  raised.  And  yet  school 
boards  and  superintendents  throughout  the  country, 
while  demanding    better  teaching   of   modern    lan- 

1  From  35  to  45  pupils  are  often  assigned  to  beginning  classes 
in  Spanish  in  some  of  the  high  schools  of  New  York  City.  In 
Manhattan,  teachers  are  required  to  carry  an  average  of  720 
"  pupil  periods  "  per  week  per  teacher  in  a  department  of 
modern  languages  (and  in  other  subjects  except  in  English). 
The  number  of  "  pupil  periods  "  is  obtained  by  multiplying 
the  number  of  students  by  the  number  of  times  per  week  the 
class  recites;  in  languages  this  would  mean  144  pupils  reciting 
5  times  per  week,  which  could  be  distributed  in  5  classes  of  29 
each  or  4  classes  of  36  each.  The  teacher  sometimes  finds  he 
has  assigned  him  5  classes  averaging  36  to  38  each. 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  CLASSES  II 5 

guages,  fail  to  take  the  two  steps  that  would  most 
profoundly  influence  the  betterment  of  that  instruc- 
tion and  at  the  same  time  contribute  the  just  share 
of  the  authorities  to  that  improvement,  namely, 
(1)  sanction  the  sabbatical  year,  with  half  pay, 
for  language  teachers  for  the  purpose  of  travel 
and  study  in  the  lands  whose  languages  they  teach, 
and  (2)  limit  the  number  of  pupils  in  modern  lan- 
guage classes  to  a  maximum  of  25,  particularly 
for  beginning  classes,  where  it  is  most  vital  that 
proper  conditions  prevail  in  every  respect.  Of  the 
first  need  we  have  already  spoken.  It  seems  furthest 
from  accomplishment.  The  latter  need  is  more 
easily  met,  is  fully  as  urgent  as  the  first  mentioned 
and  should  probably  be  the  first  to  be  satisfied. 
Some  modern  language  authorities  set  20  as  the 
maximum  number  that  should  be  assigned  to  a 
language  class.1  Few,  if  any,  language  teachers  can 
secure  the  best  results  of  which  they  are  capable  with 
more  than  25  pupils. 

Imagine  what  a  Spanish  teacher  can  accomplish 
with  a  class  of  40  —  a  problem  often  given  him  for 
solving.  In  a  period  of  40  minutes  each  pupil  can 
be  given  just  one  minute  each  day  or  say  200  minutes 
a  year,   that  is  3-5-  hours  of  individual  recitation, 

1  A  questionnaire  on  supervised  language  study  which  was 
sent  out  by  the  Modern  Language  Section  of  the  High  School 
Conference  of  Illinois  contained  this  question  :  Do  you  approve 
of  limiting  all  language  classes  to  a  registration  of  not  more 
than  20?  In  response  to  this  question  249  principals  and 
teachers  in  high  schools  voted  Yes,  49  said  No,  and  17  were 
silent.  —  University  of  Illinois  School  of  Education  Bulletin 
No.  15,  January  24,  1916. 


Il6  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

practice,  and  drill,  provided  that  there  are  no  inter- 
ruptions of  the  class  in  that  year  and  the  teacher 
takes  up  no  minute  of  that  time  in  correcting  board 
work  or  attending  to  matters  of  class  management 
or  discipline. 

The  usual  excuses  given  for  large  language  classes 
are  (i)  administration  difficulties  and  (2)  coincident 
increased  cost  of  instruction.  But  the  administra- 
tion difficulties  are  by  no  means  insurmountable 
and  should  be  surmounted.  Any  added  expense 
occasioned  by  increase  in  teaching  staff  is  immeasur- 
ably outweighed  by  the  benefits  that  accrue  to  the 
pupil,  to  the  school,  and  to  the  community,  when 
the  size  of  classes  is  reduced  to  a  maximum  number 

of  2S- 

Conditions  in  this  respect  have  been  peculiarly 

unfortunate  in  the  Spanish  Departments  of  many 
schools,  due,  in  part,  to  difficulty  in  securing  teachers 
of  Spanish  and,  in  part,  to  the  belief  that  Spanish 
is  a  fad  and  that  classes  in  that  language  will  in  a 
short  time  return  to  their  former  reduced  numbers. 
As  offsetting  these  two  conditions,  we  should  re- 
member that  the  difficulty  in  obtaining  Spanish 
teachers  will  before  long  be  much  lessened,  as  very 
many  teachers  are  at  present  seeking  to  equip 
themselves  to  teach  this  language,  and  that  the 
very  steady  growth  in  the  numbers  of  students  of 
Spanish  is  indicative  of  a  continuity  of  the  desire 
to  study  the  language. 

The  next  few  years  should  see  an  overwhelming, 
united  movement  on  the  part  of  all  modern  language 
teachers  to  secure  from  boards  of  education  recog- 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  CLASSES  1 17 

nition  and  establishment  of  the  principle  of  a  maxi- 
mum of  25  in  foreign  language  classes. 

C.  The  length  of  the  period 

In  the  Junior  High  School  it  seems  questionable 
whether  a  period  longer  than  35  minutes  at  most 
is  desirable.  The  interest  of  these  younger  pupils 
can  hardly  be  sustained  profitably  for  a  longer  time, 
no  matter  how  resourceful  the  teacher  may  be.  In 
the  ordinary  High  School  or  the  Senior  High  School 
periods  of  40  to  45  minutes  of  actual  work  have 
been  found  to  be  most  suitable  for  classes  in  lan- 
guages as  well  as  in  other  subjects.1 

D.   Supervised  or  directed  study  and  the  number 
of  teaching  periods 

Closely  connected  with  the  question  of  the  length 
of  the  class  period  are  the  questions  of  supervised 
study  and  the  number  of  periods  that  should  be 
allotted  to  the  teacher.  What  seems  to  be  now 
considered  as  the  proper  arrangement,  especially 
for  modern  languages,  where  theory  and  practice 
must  be  closely  correlated,  consists  of  a  double 
period,  that  is,  a  recitation  period  of  45  minutes 
followed  immediately  by  a  study  period  of  45  minutes 

'e'  1  It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  the  Perse  School  (Cam- 
bridge, England)  gives  to  pupils  of  this  age  36  periods  a  week  of 
45  minutes  each.  Foreign  language  periods  are  of  the  same 
length  as  the  others,  and  each  language  is  taught  six  periods  per 
week. 


Il8  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

under  the  direct  supervision  of  the  recitation  teacher, 
with  an  intermission  of  from  three  to  five  minutes 
between  the  two  periods.  The  practice,  based  on 
sound  pedagogy,  which  has  long  been  followed  in 
European  and  some  American  schools,  of  devoting 
part  of  each  class  period  to  preparation  for  the  work  of 
the  next,  is  thus  amplified  into  greater  effectiveness. 
In  brief,  during  the  first  period  the  teacher  obtains 
from  each  pupil  his  reactions  on  the  problems  of 
the  lesson,  drills  individually  and  in  concert  the 
members  of  the  class  on  the  principles  studied,  works 
up  to  a  high  point  the  interest,  participation,  and 
enthusiasm  of  all,  and  thus  gets  group  power  as  well 
as  individual  power.  He  does  not  merely  hear 
the  lesson ;  he  actively  obtains  the  active  coopera- 
tion of  all  in  the  mastery  of  the  lesson.  The  period 
ends.  A  definite  piece  of  work  has  been  accom- 
plished and  along  the  lines  for  which  the  pupils  had 
been  prepared  in  the  study  period  of  the  previous 
day.     An  intermission  follows. 

Next  comes  the  study  period.  Now  teacher  and 
pupils  together  attack  something  new  for  the  first 
time,  possibly,  of  that  day.  The  teacher  develops 
the  new  material  (using  Spanish  judiciously  in  so 
doing)  by  skillful  questioning,  by  inductive  processes, 
by  clear  explanations,  by  relating  the  new  to  the 
old,  thus  leading  to  an  understanding  of  the  new 
material  —  in  short,  he  teaches  the  new  lesson. 
Possibly,  too,  he  gives  at  this  time  some  drill  on  the 
new  matter,  although  this  is  work  more  fitted  to 
the  recitation  period  proper.  In  this  way  would  a 
grammar   or   composition   lesson   be   prepared    for. 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  CLASSES  119 

With  a  reading  lesson  the  teacher  or  the  pupils  read 
the  advance  lesson  aloud  for  the  sake  of  pronuncia- 
tion and  aural  comprehension,  the  teacher  helps 
in  working  out  the  meaning  of  difficult  passages, 
and  so  forth.  Part,  possibly  half,  of  the  study 
period  is  then  used  by  the  pupils  in  doing  any  written 
exercises  assigned,  such  as  summaries,  recastings 
and  paraphrases,  in  memorizing  or  in  further  study 
necessary  for  the  next  recitation  period.  The  teacher, 
during  this  time,  will  be  free  to  give  individual  aid 
to  those  needing  it. 

This  is  directed  study.  It  saves  time  for  the  stu- 
dent in  the  processes  of  learning,  obviates  the 
fixation  of  erroneous  ideas  so  frequently  and  easily 
caused  by  undirected  or  misdirected  study  at  home, 
gives  expert  help  at  the  point  where  help  is  most 
needed,  takes  full  advantage  of  the  state  of  mind 
or  atmosphere  created  in  the  preceding  recitation 
period,  creates  closer  intellectual  and  social  ties 
between  teacher  and  pupil,  and,  as  a  result  of  these 
benefits,  the  "  mortality  "  of  the  high  school  is  dimin- 
ished. 

Obviously,  in  a  school  having  six  recitation  periods 
per  day,  a  teacher  could  be  charged  with  but  three 
classes  under  the  double-period  system.  This  would 
require  a  larger  teaching  staff  than  most  cities  would 
be  willing  to  provide.  In  that  case,  it  would  be 
better  for  a  teacher  to  have,  say,  20  teaching  periods 
a  week  (four  recitation  classes  per  day)  and  the 
remaining  10  periods  could  be  apportioned  in  such 
a  way  as  to  give,  say,  two  double  periods  per  week 
to  two  of  the  four  classes  and  three  double  periods 


120  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

to  the  other  two,  preferably  to  the  beginning 
classes.  But  in  any  case  it  would  mean  that 
all  of  the  30  periods  per  week  of  the  teacher's  time 
would  be  devoted  to  classroom  work  —  a  heavy 
schedule,  with  no  intervening  periods  for  rest  or  for 
attending  to  the  many  clerical  tasks  a  teacher  must 
perforce  discharge.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
the  up-to-date  Spanish  teacher  must  use  his  voice 
and  exert  his  energies  most  actively  during  the 
greater  part  of  a  recitation  period,  and  he  is  busy  in 
many  ways  during  every  minute  of  the  study  period. 
The  advocacy  of  a  school  day  of  eight  periods  of 
40  minutes  each  (not  including  a  lunch  period)  is 
making  progress  in  various  parts  of  the  United  States. 
This  plan  has  as  its  basis,  in  communities  desiring 
supervised  study,  the  fact  that  ordinarily  the  high 
school  student  carries  four  "  prepared  "  or  major 
subjects.  To  provide  the  double  period  in  these 
four  subjects  necessitates  eight  periods  a  day  in 
which  he  is  to  be  continuously  in  touch  with  his 
teachers.  But  it  could  not  be  expected  of  the  modern 
language  teacher  that  he  should  teach  four  classes  a 
day,  each  having  an  eighty-minute  double  period. 
But  he  could  doubtless  handle  four  recitation  classes 
a  day  (20  a  week)  and  supervise  10  periods  of  study 
(3  per  week  for  two  classes  and  2  per  week  for  the 
other  two),  a  total  of  30  periods  out  of  a  possible 
40  for  the  week.  This  would  allow  the  teacher  10 
periods  per  week  for  rest  and  clerical  work.  (The 
clerical  work  should,  however,  be  reduced  by  the 
school  administration  to  the  lowest  possible  mini- 
mum.)    These    periods    should    be    distributed    so 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  CLASSES  121 

as  to  prevent  as  much  as  possible  continuous  teach- 
ing of  more  than  two  periods  in  succession.  The 
pupil  would  not,  of  course,  have  double  periods 
every  day  in  his  four  major  subjects.  He  would 
have  4  X  8  (5  recitation  +  3  study)  periods  or  32  pe- 
riods for  his  major  subjects,  during  his  early  work 
in  the  high  school.  Later  he  would  have  probably 
4  X  7  (5  recitation  +  2  study)  periods  or  28  periods  for 
major  subjects.  Into  the  remaining  periods  of  the 
week  would  be  fitted  his  unprepared  subjects  — 
music,  drawing,  physical  training,  and  laboratory 
work.1  This  would  seem  a  fair  adjustment  of  the 
interrelated  problems  of  supervised  study  and  num- 
ber of  periods  in  the  teacher's  assignment.  Of  course, 
the  supervision  of  the  study  period,  when  properly 
done,  demands  much  of  the  teacher,  but  for  a  good 
part  of  that  period  his  voice  is  not  taxed  nor  his 
nerves  under  tension  to  the  same  extent  as  in  the 
recitation  period. 

Under  the  system  prevailing  in  many  schools  the 
teacher  of  Spanish  has  had  to  teach  five  and  even 
six  consecutive  periods  of  forty-five  minutes  each 

1  At  the  Joliet  Township  High  School,  Joliet,  111.,  Principal 
J.  Stanley  Brown  (after  experimenting  with  an  eighty-minute 
double  period,  and  after  consulting  with  another  educator  who 
had  experimented  with  a  sixty-minute  double  period)  has  adopted 
a  school-day  consisting  of  twelve  thirty-five-minute  periods, 
divided  up  as  six  double  periods.  Both  the  teacher  and  the 
pupil  have  a  recitation-day  of  four  double  periods.  The  re- 
maining four  single  periods  are  used  as  follows :  one  for  lunch, 
and  three  for  odds  and  ends.  In  the  case  of  the  teacher  these 
odds  and  ends  are  clerical  and  administrative  tasks ;  and  in  the 
case  of  the  pupils,  they  are  the  classes  in  music,  gymnastics,  etc. 


122  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

per  day.  Using  the  most  recent  methods  and  work- 
ing under  tension  at  top  speed,  though  mayhap 
calmly  enough  outwardly,  the  teacher,  no  matter 
how  strong  he  or  she  may  be,  who  works  for  six 
consecutive  periods  per  day  finishes  the  day  in  a 
state  of  voicelessness  and  nervous  exhaustion.  Six 
consecutive  periods  are  preposterous  and  usually 
spell  for  the  teacher  shattered  health  in  a  very  few 
years.  Five  consecutive  periods  are  also  a  heavy 
strain  in  modern  language  teaching  if  such  a  schedule 
is  maintained  for  more  than  a  year  at  a  time.  The 
author  has  watched  closely  in  the  high  schools  of 
New  York  City  the  effect  upon  language  teachers 
of  the  number  of  teaching  periods,  and  wishes  to 
register  here  his  firm  conviction  that  four  forty-five- 
minute  recitation  periods  a  day  are  all  that  should 
be  asked  of  a  modern  language  teacher  if  a  high  grade 
of  work  is  to  be  expected  at  all  times  of  that  teacher. 
Four  recitation  periods  and  two  additional  periods  of 
supervised  study  per  day  will  not,  however,  overtax 
the  teacher  in  an  eight-period-per-day  school  if  the 
free  periods  are  arranged  so  as  to  allow  the  teacher 
a  respite  when  most  needed,  say,  if  possible,  in  this 
way:  Period  I,  recitation;  2,  supervised  study;  3, 
free ;  4,  recitation ;  (lunch) ;  5,  recitation ;  6,  super- 
vised study ;   7,  free ;   8,  recitation. 

E.   Retardation 

The  author's  experience  and  observation  of  the 
teaching  of  Spanish  have  taken  cognizance  of  a 
phenomenon  that  it  may  be  interesting  to  discuss 


^. 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  CLASSES  123 

here,  as  it  affects  to  a  marked  degree  the  organiza- 
tion of  classes,  in  that  provision  must  be  made  in 
the  program  every  half  year  or  year  for  those  who 
are  left  back ".  This  phenomenon  is  a  period  of 
retardation  in  the  progress  of  high  school  students 
of  Spanish  at  the  end  of  the  first  term  or,  in  some 
schools,  at  the  end  of  the  second  term  (or  first  year). 
This  seems  to  be  more  marked  in  Spanish  than  it  is, 
say,  in  French.  Corroboration  of  this  observation 
made  in  New  York  schools  has  been  received  in  let- 
ters from  at  least  three  high  school  and  college 
teachers  in  widely  separated  parts  of  the  country, 
all  of  whom  unsolicited  make  mention  of  the  exist- 
ence of  this  condition  in  institutions  with  which  they 
are  connected.  It  may  be  worth  while  to  attempt 
here  to  ascertain  the  causes  of  this  slowing-up  and 
to  suggest  possible  remedies. 

Failure  to  progress  beyond  the  first  term  of  Span- 
ish in  the  four-year  High  School  has  been  due  to 
many  causes. 

First,  it  is  evident  that  the  first  half  year  is  the 
"  sifting  out "  period.  The  linguistically  unfit, 
especially  in  a  class  the  majority  of  whom  are  begin- 
ning foreign  language  study  with  Spanish,  find  out 
their  limitations  in  fifteen  or  twenty  weeks  of  study. 
On  failing  at  this  first  trial  they  either  "  repeat  " 
or  their  course  is  changed  to  include  some  other 
language. 

Second,  as  previously  remarked,  beginning  Span- 
ish classes  have  often  been  far  too  large  for  the 
accomplishment  of  good  work  by  either  teacher  or 
pupil.     These   first   two   reasons   apply,   of  course, 


124  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

to  a  greater  or  less  extent  to  beginning  classes  in 
all  foreign  languages. 

Third,  the  widely  heralded  but  greatly  mistaken 
idea  that  Spanish  is  easy  to  acquire  leads  many 
to  elect  it,  especially  poor  students  who  are  recom- 
mended or  influenced  (sometimes  by  the  graduat- 
ing-class  teacher  of  the  elementary  school)  to  do  so. 

Fourth,  because  of  this  same  erroneous  idea, 
students  who  fail  in  a  half  year  or  year  of  the  study 
of  French  or  Latin  or  German  are  often  advised  to 
"try  Spanish".  Experience  has  shown  that  not 
more  than  one  student  in  nine  succeeds  in  Spanish 
after  having  been  dropped  from  classes  in  the  other 
languages  mentioned.1  If  such  students  cannot 
learn  French  or  Latin  or  German  they  cannot 
learn  Spanish.  The  result  usually  is  only  a  sad 
jumble  in  the  student's  mind  of  a  few  Spanish  words 
which  he  pronounces  in  French  or  Latin  fashion 
or  which  he  strings  together  with  German  words 
which  he  murders  as  impartially  in  pronunciation 
as  he  does  the  Spanish  ones. 

Fifth,  there  is  often  too  great  an  acceleration  in 
the  work  of  the  first  (and  second)  term.  The  pace 
set  is  often  too  rapid  (i)  in  grammar,  for  some  schools 
attempt  to  "  cover  "  an  elementary  Spanish  grammar 
text  in  one  year,  and  (2)  in  reading  matter.  In  the 
second  half  of  the  first  year,  when  more  and  more 

1  For  three  years  the  author  kept  account  of  the  varying 
fortunes  of  boys  who  in  DeWitt  Clinton  High  School  "  tried 
Spanish  "  after  failing  in  other  languages.  There  were  10.2 
per  cent  of  them  who  passed  one  year  of  Spanish  and  4.5  per 
cent  who  passed  two  years. 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  CLASSES  1 25 

emphasis  is  placed  on  reading,  a  lack  of  properly 
graded  material  for  this  purpose  has  led  to  the  use 
of  highly  literary  selections,  too  difficult  by  far  in 
vocabulary  and  style.  Teacher  and  pupils  using 
such  reading  texts  despair  at  length  and  relapse 
into  much  pseudo-translation  and  little  use  of 
Spanish  in  the  classroom,  and  thus  the  work  becomes 
dull  and  hopeless.  This  use  of  unsuitable  reading 
matter  is,  it  is  true,  often  due  to  ill-advised  selection 
of  texts,  since  the  rather  numerous  inexperienced 
but  well-meaning  teachers  of  Spanish  often  make 
poor  choices  for  their  classes.1 

Several  remedies  have  been  suggested.  First, 
the  elimination  from  all  Spanish  classes  of  those  who, 
after  two  full  half  years  of  endeavor,  fail  to  obtain 
credit  for  any  given  term  (half  year)  of  Spanish. 
"  Repeaters  "  should  not  be  allowed  a  third  trial 
in  any  given  unit  into  which  the  program  in  Spanish 
is  divided.  In  public  schools  a  student  who  is  per- 
mitted more  than  two  trials  wastes  the  city's  money, 
his  own  time,  and  the  teacher's  time  and  energy. 
His  forte  may  be  wood-turning  or  bookkeeping, 
but  it  surely  is  not  Spanish.  If  he  is  a  square  peg 
he  should  not  be  forced  into  a  round  hole. 

Second,  the  organization  of  classes  with  a  maxi- 
mum of  25  student  members. 

Third,  the  insistence  by  teachers  of  Spanish  upon 
the  fact  that  Spanish  is  not  an  easy  language  to 

1  In  one  high  school  the  author  found  a  well-intentioned  and 
energetic  young  teacher  trying  to  use  in  a  second-term  class 
El  Capitan  Veneno  as  a  reading  text  and  wondering  at  the  same 
time  why  the  pupils  had  difficulty  in  understanding  it ! 


/ 


126  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

acquire.  Much  missionary  work  is  necessary  to 
correct  the  common  misconception  concerning  the 
ease  of  Spanish.  Facts  that  combat  the  idea  that 
Spanish  is  easy  have  already  been  given.  No  foreign 
language  is  easy  to  master,  and  Spanish  is  no  ex- 
ception, especially  when  it  is  the  first  foreign  lan- 
guage studied.  If  the  truth  in  this  matter  be 
properly  disseminated,  fewer  students  generally  weak 
in  academic  work  and  fewer  of  those  who  pre- 
viously have  failed  in  other  languages  will  choose 
Spanish.  This  language  should  not  be  made,  either 
by  popular  misconception  or  the  misconception  of 
administrative  officers  of  the  school,  the  last  hope 
and  final  resort  of  poor  students.  Such  students 
cannot  at  the  eleventh  hour  be  inoculated  with 
Spanish  and  thus  saved  from  a  linguistic  death. 
A  diminution  in  the  numbers  of  such  students  of 
Spanish  will  be  welcome,  not  unwelcome,  to  those 
who  advocate  the  wider  study  of  the  language. 

Fourth,  less  speed  in  the  work  of  the  first  year. 
Three  or  even  four  terms  in  the  four-year  High  School 
should  be  devoted  to  the  mastery  of  the  usual  be- 
ginning grammar.  And  much  the  same  criticism 
may  rightly  be  made  of  attempts  to  hurry  the  de- 
velopment of  reading  ability.  The  reading  selec- 
tions in  first,  second,  and  third  term,  even  in  the 
four-year  High  School,  should  be  chosen  not  for 
literary  values  but  for  practical,  everyday  ideas 
and  vocabulary.  Literary  style,  even  in  English, 
is  usually  little  appreciated  or  understood  by  the 
high  school  Freshman.  And  the  same  is  true  of 
the  vocabulary  of  literary  selections.     Why  inflict 


THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  CLASSES  127 

these  things  upon  him  in  the  study  of  a  foreign  lan- 
guage before  he  has  acquired  some  mastery  of  the 
ordinary,  everyday  language  ?  Once  the  ordinary 
language  is  mastered  to  a  good  extent,  let  the  stu- 
dent be  gradually  initiated  into  the  riches  of  Spanish 
literature.  But  let  us  not  coax  him  to  run  before 
he  can  walk.  Let  us  put  the  horse  before  the 
cart.  The  practice,  rather  common  in  college 
work,  of  racing  through  a  beginning  grammar 
and  two  or  three  short  novels,  all  in  one  year,  has 
absolutely  no  place  in  any  type  of  High  School. 
Quien  mas  corre  menos  vuela  applies  with  no 
greater  exactness  and  force  in  any  situation  in  life 
than  it  does  in  the  learning  and  the  teaching  of 
modern  languages  in  the  High  School.  It  is  con- 
ceivable that  in  college,  where  Spanish  is  usually 
taken  up  after  several  years  of  Latin  and  French 
and  where  an  eye-reading  knowledge  of  Spanish 
is  the  aim  in  view,  such  a  plan  may  be  feasible,  if 
not  entirely  commendable  (from  the  standpoint 
of  the  high  school  teacher).  But  the  author  has  a 
faint  suspicion  that  the  good  Spanish  proverb  just 
cited  might  be  observed  with  profit  even  in  college 
classes.  But  he  desists  from  that  line  of  specula- 
tion lest  an  equally  valuable  proverb  be  stormed  at 
him,  which  says :  Zapatero,  a  tus  zapatos. 

Fifth,  more  thoroughly  trained  teachers  of  Spanish 
and  teachers  of  better  judgment,  who  will  not  pre- 
sume upon  the  slight  knowledge  possessed  by  the 
student  at  the  end  of  an  early  term  (or  year)  of 
study. 

As  a  sixth  remedy  for  retardation  must  be  cited 


128  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

a  greater  variation  of  the  work,  both  as  to  methods 
and  as  to  material  —  more  oral  practice,  more 
"  manipulations",  more  drill,  in  short,  more  of  the 
methods  suggested  for  use, in  teaching  the  course 
outlined  for  the  Junior  High  School.  As  a  varia- 
tion of  material,  it  is  suggested  that  at  the  beginning 
of  the  third  term,  or  second  year,  an  elementary 
composition  book  be  begun,  thus  getting  away  from 
grammar  and  reading,  per  se.  Often  a  change  to 
a  new  type  of  book  will  do  wonders  to  revive  enthu- 
siasm and  interest. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  RECITATION 

A.  Preparation  for  the  recitation 

It  is  trite  but  pertinent  to  say  that  every  lesson 
must  have  a  definite,  clear  goal.  The  teacher, 
knowing  what  that  goal  should  be,  will  direct  every 
step  of  the  class  period  to  that  one  end.  This  re- 
quires the  formation  of  a  concise  plan  of  action 
and  the  careful  organization  of  material.  The 
tools  for  the  hour's  work  must  be  in  condition  and 
ready  for  use.  Paper,  if  needed,  will  be  placed  at 
hand ;  chalk,  erasers,  charts,  objective  material, 
pictures,  and  maps  will  be  provided.  Monitors 
in  each  class  will  have  been  appointed  to  give  out 
paper,  clean  the  boards  before  and  after  the  period, 
open  and  close  windows  and  doors,  collect  exercises, 
etc.  It  will  be  most  convenient  to  have  a  seating 
plan  prepared,  and  a  secretary  named  to  take  the 
roll  from  this  plan  as  soon  as  the  class  is  assembled 
and  to  record  names  of  absentees  on  the  back  of  the 
plan  under  an  appropriate  date  line.  These  little 
devices  will  aid  in  saving  time  and  in  maintaining 
order  and  will  make  the  machinery  of  the  recita- 
tion move  silently,  swiftly,  and  with  little  attention 

129 


130  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

from  the  teacher.  All  these  preliminaries  having 
been  attended  to,  the  recitation  should  start  with 
vim  on  the  stroke  of  the  bell. 


B.  Assignment  of  the  Lesson 

Unless  the  Spanish  classes  are  organized  on  the 
basis  of  the  double  period  —  recitation  and  super- 
vised study  directed  by  the  recitation  teacher  — 
usually  the  first  act  of  the  teacher  should  be  the  as- 
signment of  the  work  preliminary  to  the  next  reci- 
tation. This  may  be  dictated  in  Spanish,  one  pupil 
writing  the  assignment  on  the  board,  or  the  teacher 
may  himself  write  it.  Of  course,  this  assignment 
should  be  definite  and  clear.  But  definiteness  and 
clearness  are  not  sufficient.  The  teacher  must 
foresee  the  difficulties  the  class  will  face  in  the  new 
lesson,  analyze  them  and  show  the  class  how  to 
attack  them,  show  what  to  stress,  suggest  devices 
for  aid  in  mastering  this  or  that,  in  short,  show  how 
to  study  the  new  lesson.  In  lower  classes  particu- 
larly, the  teacher  should  anticipate  the  phonetic 
and  grammar  difficulties  that  lurk  in  "  the  next 
lesson".  How  to  learn  a  vocabulary,  to  prepare  a 
reading  lesson,  to  do  composition  work,  to  prepare 
summaries,  to  learn  verbs,  to  master  a  principle 
of  grammar,  are  all  practical  and  vital  problems, 
the  solution  of  which  can  be  successfully  attained 
only  under  the  guidance  of  a  teacher  who  has  him- 
self solved  these  problems  and  who  has  worked  out 
ways  of  teaching  his  students  how  to  attack  their 
work. 


THE  RECITATION  131 

C.  The  Recitation  Proper 

After  the  class  has  been  prepared  for  its  next 
session,  the  work  of  the  day  follows.  In  this  the 
teacher  will,  of  course,  test  the  preparation  of  the 
pupils  for  thoroughness  and  correctness  and  test 
their  reactions  upon  the  principles  of  the  lesson ; 
but  the  chief  function  of  the  teacher  of  Spanish  in 
this  part  of  the  period  is  that  of  the  drill  master. 
Drill  must  be  given  in  various  forms  upon  the  same 
principles  or  upon  various  principles  in  the  same  form. 
Action  and  reaction  must  be  obtained  from  the  pupils 
upon  the  problems  of  the  day's  work.  Participa- 
tion and  ready  cooperation  should  be  continuous. 
Attention  and  interest  must  not  flag.  The  activity 
of  the  pupil  should,  at  least  to  the  casual  observer, 
be  greater  than  that  of  the  teacher.  How  are  these 
conditions  obtained  ? 

The  skill  and  the  technique  of  the  teacher  will 
create  these  conditions.  In  the  exercise  of  his  skill 
he  will 

(1)  use  Spanish  in  all  the  ordinary  situations 
that  arise  in  the  classroom,  and  he  will  require  the 
students  to  use  Spanish  likewise; 

(2)  use  problem-putting,  thought-provoking  ques- 
tions, whether  expressed  in  English  or  Spanish ; 

(3)  put  his  questions  to  the  class  as  a  whole  and 
then  select  the  individual  to  answer ; 

(4)  insist  upon,  if  necessary,  but  habitually  get 
answers  in  complete  sentences  and  in  a  clear 
voice ; 

(5)  permit  no  interruption  of  the  pupil  who  is 


132  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

reciting  by  others  who  may  be  eager  to  make  sugges- 
tions ; 

(6)  give  much  practice  in  oral  Spanish,  remem- 
bering that  in  training  the  ear  he  is  creating  a  "feel- 
ing "  for  the  language  that  will  be  of  the  greatest 
aid  in  all  the  other  phases  of  mastering  Spanish ; 

(7)  call  upon  every  pupil  at  least  once  during  each 
recitation,  if  at  all  possible  to  do  so ;  in  any  case 
his  plan  for  calling  on  pupils  will  be  systematic 
but  not  easily  divined  by  them  (for  instance,  they 
may  be  selected  according  to  the  order  in  which 
they  sit  in  the  diagonal  rows)  ; 

(8)  assign  board  work,  for  review,  testing,  or  drill, 
by  means  of  giving  out  cards  on  which  the  task  is 
set  in  written  directions; 

(9)  have  papers  given  out  or  collected  by  monitors 
according  to  a  definite  system; 

(10)  give  a  pupil  time  in  which  to  answer  but 
allow  no  guessing  or  unnecessary  delay ; 

(11)  give  a  word  of  public  approval  for  good  work ; 

(12)  make  use  of  the  more  able  pupils  in  correct- 
ing board  and  paper  work; 

(13)  have  much  concert  work  (if  he  is  successful 
in  conducting  this  kind  of  activity),  consisting  of 
drill  in  forms,  memory  work,  reading  aloud,  and 
so   forth ; 

(14)  refer  to  maps,  charts,  and  objects  to  reenforce 
points  of  the  lesson ; 

(15)  be  the  sole  judge  of  when  aid  is  to  be  given 
to  a  pupil  and  by  whom  it  shall  be  given. 

From  start  to  finish  the  recitation  will  progress 
steadily  and  according  to  the  teacher's  prearranged 


THE  RECITATION  1 33 

schedule.  But  the  period  .will  not  close  without  a 
clear-cut  summary,  preferably  in  Spanish,  of  the 
work  just  accomplished.  This  summary  will  be  the 
climax  of  the  hour  and  may  be  developed  through 
questions  to  a  member  of  the  class  or  it  may  be 
stated  succinctly  by  the  teacher  and  may  then  be 
repeated  by  various  pupils.  A  variation  of  this  is 
to  set  aside  the  last  five  minutes,  in  which  each  pupil 
will  write  a  summary  of  the  day's  recitation. 


CHAPTER  XI 

METHODS   AND   DEVICES 

The  ear,  the  eye,  the  tongue,  the  imitative  powers, 
the  motor  nerves,  the  memory,  and  the  reasoning 
processes  must  all  be  trained  by  the  teacher  of 
Spanish  if  the  aim  we  have  set  in  teaching  that 
language  is  to  be  accomplished.  What  are  the 
various  media  at  hand  through  which  this  training 
may  be  given  ? 

They  are  the  reading  text,  the  grammar  exercise, 
dictation,  oral  practice,  composition  work,  and 
memory  work.  Of  course,  any  one  of  these  media 
may  be  and  often  is  connected,  in  teaching  processes, 
with  any  one  or  several  of  the  others.  Thus  reading 
may  be  used  as  the  basis  of  all  the  other  media. 
Memory  passages  may  be  taken  from  the  reading, 
from  composition  sections,  from  the  grammar  text, 
or  from  the  material  dictated.  Composition  may  be 
oral  or  written  and  may  have  its  foundation  in 
various  types  of  work.  Let  us  make  such  sugges- 
tions for  the  use  of  these  media  as  will  bring  into 
play  the  various  senses  and  faculties  mentioned. 

Reading 

In  addition  to  the  methods  and  devices  suggested 
on  pages  80-82  for  handling  the  reading  lesson,  we  may 

134 


METHODS  AND  DEVICES  135 

enumerate  the  following:  A  sentence  is  read  in  a 
class  of  younger  pupils:  Los  ladrones  robaron  el 
dinero  al  muchacho.  To  center  attention  on  the 
sentence,  a  pupil  writes  it  on  the  board.  The 
pupils  are  asked  each  to  formulate  a  question 
based  on  the  statement  and  to  write  the  question  on 
a  slip  of  paper.  The  slips  are  collected  and  given 
to  a  pupil  to  copy  on  the  board  near  the  statement. 
While  this  is  being  done,  the  class  continues  with 
other  work  and  later  examines  the  questions.  Sug- 
gestions are  made  for  improvement  or  variation. 
Or  this  may  all  be  done  orally. 

Or  the  important  words  of  the  sentence  may  be 
placed  in  new  and  original  Spanish  sentences.  Or 
the  teacher  may  read  two  or  three  short  sentences 
(books  closed)  and  ask  to  have  them  repeated  by 
members  of  the  class.  Or  he  may  ask  to  have  the 
sense  given  in  English,  orally  or  in  writing.  Or, 
occasionally,  a  paragraph  may  be  chosen  for  written 
translation  into  English.  When  these  translations 
are  corrected,  pupils  may  be  sent  to  the  board  to 
turn  the  English  back  into  Spanish.  This  could, 
of  course,  be  done  with  profit  chiefly  in  the  case  of 
the  more  advanced  classes. 

Or  questions  upon  the  form  of  the  Spanish  text 
may  be  given  as  well  as  upon  the  content,  thus : 
De  Vd.  el  infinitivo  de  dijeron.  I  Cual  es  el  singular 
de  ladrones  ?  £  C6mo  se  escribe  el  plural  de  reloj? 
(In  answering,  the  pupil  will,  of  course,  use  the 
Spanish  names  of  the  letters.)  Ponga  Vd.  en  plural 
to  da  la  oracion. 

Or  questions  on  either  the  form  or  content  may 


136  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

be  written  on  cards  and  these  questions  handed  out 
for  either  oral  or  written  answers.  These  cards  are 
a  particularly  good  time-saving  device.  Or  the 
teacher  may  assign  for  intensive  oral  work  certain 
lines  of  the  reading.  Upon  the  indicated  section 
the  teacher's  questioning  of  the  next  day  will  be 
concentrated.  For  example,  in  more  advanced 
classes  the  pupils  will  be  expected  to  know  all  the 
verb  forms  of  the  passage,  the  various  idioms  therein 
(which  they  will  be  required  to  use  in  original  sen- 
tences in  tenses,  persons,  and  numbers  differing 
from  those  in  which  the  idioms  occur  in  the  text), 
and  they  will  be  asked  to  summarize  in  the  foreign 
language  the  incidents  related  in  the  selection. 

Or  in  the  higher  classes  outside  reading  may  be 
required.  This  may  be  begun  on  a  small  scale  as 
early  as  the  fourth  term.  The  text  should  be  easier 
than  that  used  for  the  class  work.  A  report  on  this 
reading  should  be  required  in  the  form  of  a  summary 
of  the  amount  read  at  the  end  of  every  two  weeks. 
A  record  of  these  reports  should  be  kept.  The 
teacher  may  supplement  these  reports  by  oral  quizzes 
or  may  set  brief  written  tests  thereon.  Credit 
should  be  given  for  this  reading  in  some  way,  as, 
for  instance,  by  adding  to  the  daily  class  mark  for 
the  month  or  term  a  certain  number  of  points. 
Every  effort  should  be  made  by  the  teacher  to  en- 
courage outside  reading,  and  it  should  be  made  as 
attractive  as  possible  to  the  pupils  by  the  interest- 
ing nature  of  the  stories  suggested  and  the  com- 
parative ease  of  the  language  in  which  they  are  told. 
The  teacher  will   always  show  an  interest  in  the 


METHODS  AND  DEVICES  137 

pupil's  opinion  of  the  story  read  and  it  will  be  dis- 
cussed by  them  in  informal  fashion. 

Or  for  rapid  reading  in  higher  classes,  a  number 
of  pages  may  be  assigned  to  the  whole  class  for 
preparation.  These  pages  may  be  divided  up  among 
different  sections  of  the  class,  each  section  preparing 
a  summary  in  Spanish  of  a  certain  number  of  pages. 
These  summaries,  which  should  be  real  summaries 
and  not  paraphrases,  and  therefore  short,  may  then 
be  placed  on  the  board  in  proper  sequence,  thus  pro- 
viding a  "  boiled  down  "  version  of  the  whole  section 
assigned  for  the  day.  Any  difficulties  that  may  be 
found  in  the  Spanish  should,  of  course,  be  cleared 

Or  paraphrases  and  definitions,  written  or  oral, 
all  in  Spanish,  may  be  required.  Practice  should  be 
given  in  reading  a  short  passage,  closing  the  book 
and  telling  in  one's  own  Spanish  words  what  was 
read.  Or  a  passage  may  be  rewritten,  each  noun 
being  replaced  by  a  pronoun,  adverbs  by  adverbial 
phrases,  simple  sentences  being  made  into  complex 
and  compound  sentences  or  vice  versa.  Or  after 
the  reading  lesson  of  the  day  is  finished,  the  class 
may  read  on  at  sight,  the  teacher  giving  variants, 
synonyms,  or  definitions,  in  Spanish,  of  unknown 
words  or  involved  expressions. 

Or  attention  may  be  centered  on  reading  by  having 
one  pupil  stand  before  the  class  and  read  a  portion 
of  the  day's  lesson  while  the  others  listen  with 
books  closed  and  make  notes  of  errors  in  pronuncia- 
tion. The  listeners  then  place  on  the  board  the 
words  that  were   mispronounced   and   the   teacher 


138  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

drills   the   reader,    then   the   class,    in   the   correct 
pronunciation  of  these  words. 

These  are  probably  sufficient  hints  as  to  how 
variety  of  method  and  of  appeal  may  be  introduced 
into  the  reading  lesson.  Needless  to  say,  no  teacher 
will  attempt  all  these  plans  with  the  same  class  in  the 
same  week.  Skill  in  using  each  device  mentioned 
comes  only  with  practice.  But  by  following  these 
and  similar  schemes,  real  reading,  not  mere  eye- 
reading,  may  be  attained. 

Grammar 

Grammar  is  but  the  systemized  classification  of 
the  facts  of  a  language  as  they  are  observed  in  usage. 
It  seems  worth  while  for  the  teacher  to  make  clear 
to  his  pupils,  probably  at  the  beginning  of  a  formal 
study  of  Spanish  grammar,  that  the  Spanish  lan- 
guage is  not  the  offspring  of  some  textbook  of 
Spanish  grammar  (notwithstanding  the  veneration 
in  which  the  grammar  of  the  Real  Academia  is  held 
by  many),  but  that  the  grammar  has  been  derived 
from  the  language. 

The  practical  corollary  of  such  a  statement  is,  of 
course,  that  the  grammar  should  be  taught  induc- 
tively, that  is,  from  observing  the  language  as  used  by 
well-educated  writers  and  speakers.  The  reading 
text  and  the  grammar  book  may  be  considered  the 
field  in  which  the  phenomena  of  the  language  are 
to  be  observed ;  also  the  speech  of  the  teacher  if 
he  be  a  native  speaker  of  the  language  or  if  he  possess 
a  good  acquired  command  of  it.     Example  should 


METHODS  AND  DEVICES  139 

precede  the  rule.  Ordinarily  the  rule  need  not  be 
remembered,  but  the  example  must  be  memorized. 
Type  sentences  to  illustrate  a  principle  of  inflection 
or  syntax  should  be  made  the  basis  of  instruction 
in  grammar,  whether  conducted  according  to  induc- 
tive or  deductive  processes. 

It  is  generally  agreed  that  the  chief  difficulties  in 
Spanish  grammar  are  (1)  verb  forms,  (2)  the  use  of 
the  subjunctive,  and  (3)  personal  object  pronouns. 
Let  us  consider  here  ways  of  teaching  each  of  these 
difficult  matters. 

(1)  Verb  forms.  The  great  difficulty  here,  for  the 
English-speaking  student  accustomed  to  a  minimum 
of  verb  inflection,  is  to  feel  the  force  of  verb  endings. 
He  more  quickly  feels,  it  seems,  the  past  meaning  of 
interior  vowel  changes,  as  in  tuve,  than  he  does  that 
of  hable  or  vendia,  etc.,  which  depend  entirely  upon 
variation  of  exterior  vowels  to  express  past  time. 
Probably  this  is  because  he  is  accustomed  to  very 
similar  interior  vowel  changes  for  the  past  tense  of  so 
many  English  verbs  of  frequent  use.  Oral  practice 
is  a  good  way  to  develop  a  perception  of  the  mean- 
ings of  verb  endings.  For  example :  after  causing 
to  be  conjugated  by  individuals  and  in  concert 
the  present  tense  of  tener  un  libro,  the  process  is  this  : 
£  Que,  tiene  Vd. ?  Tengo  un  libro.  iQue  tiene 
el?  El  tiene  un  libro.  I  Tenemos  libros?  Si, 
sefior,  tenemos  libros,  and  so  forth,  rapidly,  energeti- 
cally, and  enthusiastically,  even  though  the  subject 
be  most  prosy  in  itself.  The  same  process  is  appli- 
cable to  all  tenses,  especially  in  connection  with  the 
appropriate  adverb  of  time,  ayer,  manana,  and  so 


140  SPANISH   IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

forth.  This  method  is,  of  course,  especially  appli- 
cable to  beginning  classes.  The  oral  work  should  be 
reinforced  by  abundant  blackboard  work  in  the 
writing  of  verb  forms.  It  may  be  remarked  here 
that  the  author  believes,  judging  from  his  own 
experience,  that  it  is  well  to  eliminate  subject  pro- 
nouns (except  in  third  person  forms)  from  early 
work  and  to  concentrate  attention  and  practice 
upon  the  endings  of  the  verbs.  Likewise,  he  believes 
that  no  particular  advantage  results  from  the  omis- 
sion of  the  familiar  forms,  singular  and  plural,  of 
verbs.  The  pupil  learns  six  forms  as  readily  as  he 
does  four.  Practice  will,  quite  naturally,  center  upon 
the  use  of  Vd.  and  Vds.  with  the  third  persons  in- 
stead of  t&  and  vosotros  with  the  second  persons. 

We  have  already  mentioned  the  desirability  in 
beginning  classes  of  conjugating  verbs  in  entire 
phrases.  Later,  perhaps,  —  say  after  the  first  year 
—  it  is  sufficient  to  give  the  verb  alone  in  con- 
jugating. 

But  never  must  verb  drill  be  relaxed  throughout 
the  secondary  school  study  of  Spanish.  Unremitting 
review  drill  is  the  price  of  verb  mastery.  Ear, 
tongue,  eye,  memory,  and  reasoning  powers  must  be 
so  trained  that  the  correct  form  in  mood,  tense, 
person,  and  number  come  readily  to  the  tongue  or  to 
the  pen. 

In  review  work  in  verbs,  one  irregular  (or  regular) 
verb  a  day  may  be  assigned  for  thorough  rehearsal. 
A  rapid  oral  repetition  of  forms  by  individuals  begins 
the  review.  At  the  same  time  several  may  be 
writing  synopses  (in  different  persons  or  numbers) 


METHODS  AND  DEVICES  141 

on  the  rear  board.  Or  the  verb  in  all  its  forms,  or  in 
a  synopsis,  may  be  repeated  in  concert.  Or  while 
the  rest  of  the  class  is  engaged  in  other  work,  several 
members  may  be  sent  to  the  board  to  write  out  full 
conjugations  or  synopses.  The  teacher  can  quickly 
glance  over  this  work  between  periods  and  tell 
whether  those  students  know  the  verb  of  the  day. 
If  not,  he  will  make  note  of  the  failures,  and  the  next 
day  will  require  them  to  rewrite  on  paper  the  same 
verb.  In  a  week  the  whole  class  can  thus  have  had 
their  turn  at  verb  work  at  the  board.  Then  may 
follow  such  drills  as  these :  The  teacher  rapidly 
composes  brief  questions  containing  the  verb  and 
calls  on  different  students  for  answers  in  which  they 
must  use  the  verb  of  the  day  (which  usually  is  the 
one  that  the  teacher  will  use  in  the  question). 
Suppose  it  is  the  verb  decir.  Teacher :  I  Que  digo 
ahora?  Pupil :  Vd.  dice  una  frase.  i  Que  dira  Vd. 
de  eso  ?  No  dire  nada.  I  Se  lo  dijo  Vd.  a  el  ?  No 
se  lo  dije,  and  so  forth. 

Or  the  teacher  may  use  the  verb  in  short  sentences 
and  ask  for  the  English  equivalents,  as :  Me  lo 
esta  diciendo .  Digaselo  a  ella .  Ya  se  lo  hemos  dicho . 
No  lo  digamos  ahora,  and  so  forth.  Or  the  teacher 
may  give  short  English  sentences  and  ask  for  their 
translation  into  Spanish,  as :  "  We  were  saying  so." 
"  They  had  not  said  it  to  us."  "  Let  us  say  it  to 
them,"  and  so  forth.  Incidentally,  good  drill  on 
object  pronouns  may,  as  has  been  seen,  be  combined 
with  the  verb  drill.  This  kind  of  work  should  be 
lively.     No  hesitation  should  be  allowed. 

Or  with  young  students  one  may  use  time  tests, 


142  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

oral  or  written,  to  help  automatize  knowledge  of 
verb  forms.  Johnny  finds  it  great  fun  to  beat 
Jimmy  a  half  second  in  saying  or  writing,  digo  la 
palabra,  dices  la  palabra,  etc.,  and  at  the  same  time 
both  Johnny  and  Jimmy  acquire  an  automatic  control 
of  the  forms,  and  to  a  certain  extent,  of  the  meanings 
of  those  forms. 

Or  with  pupils,  younger  or  older,  flash  cards  may 
be  used  for  verb  drill  in  a  great  variety  of  ways. 
Sentences  having  blanks  to  be  filled  with  the  different 
tenses    (affording    a   synoptical    review)    are    good 

practice.     The   card    reads:  iQne el? 

Dice,  decia,  dijo,  dirii,  diria,  ha  dicho,  habia  dicho, 
habr&  dicho,  and  habria  dicho  will  be  supplied  in 
turn  if  decir  is  in  question.  Or  cards  may  be  pre- 
pared providing  the  drills  suggested  in  above  para- 
graphs of  this  section.  Or  instead  of  blanks,  an 
infinitive  may  be  used  which  is  to  be  changed  for 
tense,  and  so  forth.  Or  short  sentences  containing 
forms  of  the  verb  may  be  written  out  and  the  pupils 
directed  to  make  the  sentences  plural  throughout, 
thus :  El  nifio  lo  dijo.  Pupil :  "  Los  niflos  lo 
dijeron." 

It  will  be  noted  that  most  of  the  suggested  verb 
drill  is  in  the  form  of  short  but  complete  sentences. 

(2)  The  use  of  the  subjunctive.  For  inflection 
of  forms,  the  subjunctive  may  be  drilled  upon  by 
oral  and  written  repetition  as  suggested  above  for 
the  indicative.  But  the  chief  problem  in  teaching 
the  subjunctive  is  its  use,  its  syntax.  Type  sentences 
are  most  helpful.  Deseo  que  venga.  Temo  que  lo 
venda.     Quise  que  lo  hiciese.    Desearia  que  me 


METHODS  AND   DEVICES  I43 

hablase.  With  younger  students  a  list  of  a  few 
such  sentences  should  be  committed  thoroughly  to 
memory  and  often  repeated.  This  will  do  much  to 
create  a  feeling  for  the  subjunctive.  Of  course  the 
meaning  should  be  held  in  mind  during  the  memoriz- 
ing and  the  repetition.  The  teacher's  ingenuity  will 
suggest  schemes  for  drilling  on  the  uses  of  the  sub- 
junctive.    Here  are  a  few  that  may  be  employed : 

The  teacher  gives  instructions  that  each  partial 
sentence  he  utters  must  be  completed  with  a  que 
clause  containing,  in  the  subjunctive,  the  verb  in 
question  (for  example,  dar).  He  begins  :  Yo  pido  — 
Pupil:  que  Vd.  me  de  el  libro.  El  rog6  — que 
le  diesemos  la  pluma.  Busco  un  amigo  — que  me  de 
dinero.  Me  alegre  de  — que  no  se  lo  diera  a  Vd., 
and  so  forth.  Or  after  several  verbs  have  been 
reviewed  once,  a  combined  review  of  the  subjunctive 
of  all  of  them  may  be  accomplished  in  a  similar 
manner.  Siento  — que  el  vaya,  explique,  haga, 
quiera,  sea,  tenga.  Senti  —  que  el  fuese,  explicase, 
hiciese,  quisiera,  fuera,  tuviera.  These  drills  may, 
of  course,  be  done  as  written  exercises,  as  may  the 
following,  also.  "  Substitute  for  the  underlined 
infinitive  of  each  of  the  following  sentences  the  correct 
finite  form :  Se  hundi6  el  sol  en  el  mar  sin  que  yo 
verlo.  Enseneme  un  camino  que  Uevarme  a  Toledo. " 
Or  this  type  will  be  useful :  "  Express  in  complete 
Spanish  sentences :  Let  us  {or  let  him)  ir,  explicar, 
hacer,  querer,  ser,  tener."  And  to  drill  on  the 
subjunctive  used  as  imperative  this  type  of  exercise 
will  be  useful :  "  Express  in  the  negative  {or  affirma- 
tive) imperative,  polite  form,  singular,  the  following 


144  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

phrases :   dejarlo  hasta  otra  vez ;   tenerlo  presente ; 
hacerlo  ahora." 

(3)  Personal  object  pronouns.  Probably  the 
forms  and  positions  of  object  pronouns  provide  the 
most  striking  instance  in  the  study  of  Spanish  of 
the  need  of  drill  to  acquire  assimilation,  mastery,  and 
facility  in  use.  Se  lo  doy,  even  with  its  ambiguities, 
is  easily  understood  in  theory  by  all  grades  of  stu- 
dents. But  ready  and  automatic  formulation  in 
Spanish  of  the  thought,  "  I  give  it  to  him,"  etc.,  ya 
es  otro  cantar.  The  proper  introduction  to  this 
difficulty  is,  of  course,  inductive  explanation  and  drill 
on  the  position  and  use  of  one  object  pronoun 
(direct  or  indirect)  with  the  verb,  as :  Lo  doy  a 
Juan  or  Le  doy  un  libro.  Type  sentences  will  help 
at  this  point  very  greatly.  Abundant  practice  should 
first  be  given  upon  this  matter  of  form  and  position 
of  one  object  pronoun.  Thus :  "  Replace  each 
noun  in  the  following  sentences  with  a  pronoun  ? 
Voy  a  tomar  el  desayuno.  Mi  hermano  ya  tom6  el 
desayuno.  Tomamos  las  comidas  muy  regular- 
mente.  Mozo,  traiga  el  cafe.  No  ponga  alii  la 
taza."  And  so  forth.  Then  may  follow  explanation 
and  drill  on  position  and  uses  of  two  object  pronouns. 
Lo  doy  a  Juan  and  Le  doy  un  libro  are  combined 
into  Se  lo  doy  (a  el).  Type  sentences  illustrating 
two  object  pronouns  should  be  committed  to  memory. 
Drill  units  similar  to  those  given  above  should  be 
given  by  the  teacher. 

Practice  on  pronouns  may,  as  we  have  seen,  be 
mos$  conveniently  combined  with  that  on  verbs ; 
but  this  combined  drill  should  be  used  only  with 


METHODS  AND  DEVICES  145 

advanced  classes  or  older  pupils.  The  reading  will 
provide  plenty  of  opportunities  for  replacing  nouns 
with  pronouns. 

Prepositional  forms  of  pronouns,  possessive  adjec- 
tives and  pronouns,  relative  pronouns,  etc.,  may  all 
be  presented  and  drilled  upon  in  similar  ways. 

And  in  teaching  Spanish  grammar,  shall  we  use 
Spanish  or  English?  An  answer  must  be  given  after 
first  considering  such  points  as  the  following : 

(1)  Grammatical  terminology  in  any  language  is 
more  or  less  technical  and  of  little  use  outside  the 
classroom. 

(2)  Time  is  precious  in  the  language  class ;  none 
should  be  wasted  in  "stunts"  or  tricks 'V just  for 
the  sake  of  doing  them. 

(3)  The  terminology  that  is  necessary  to  describe 
inflection  is  probably  more  easily  acquired  than  that 
which  deals  with  syntax. 

(4)  Spanish  should  be  as  much  as  possible  the 
language  of  the  classroom. 

(5)  The  student  likes  to  believe  as  he  progresses 
that  he  can  use  Spanish  in  any  situation  that  arises, 
once  the  vocabulary  therefor  is  supplied  him.  He 
takes  a  certain  delight  in  trying  out  his  knowledge 
in  new  situations  that  arise. 

From  a  consideration  of  these  points,  it  seems 
safe  to  say  that  if  (3),  (4),  and  (5)  are  true,  it  is 
worth  while  for  the  teacher  and  pupil  to  discuss  in 
Spanish  the  simpler  situations  that  occur  in  the 
study  of  Spanish  grammar,  but  that  because  of  (1) 
and  (2)  it  is  not  desirable  to  stress  this  kind  of  work 
nor  to  make  it  a  rule  always  to  use  Spanish  instead  of 


146  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

English  for  the  presentation  (by  induction  or  deduc- 
tion) of  a  topic  of  grammar.  Both  languages  should 
be  used  when  time  permits,  possibly  Spanish  first 
and  then,  if  necessary  for  the  sake  of  absolute  clear- 
ness, English.  Spanish  may  and  should  be  used  in 
increasing  degree  as  the  instruction  becomes  more 
advanced.  And  in  drill  work,  if  not  in  presentation, 
Spanish  should  be  the  language  used  by  far  the  more. 
It  is  in  place  to  cite  here  the  instruction  given  by  a 
Minister  of  Public  Instruction  of  Austria-Hungary 
to  the  foreign-language  teachers  of  the  dual  empire, 
where  so  many  tongues  and  dialects  are  spoken : 
The  teacher  of  modern  foreign  languages  should  use 
as  much  as  possible  the  language  which  is  the  subject 
of  study :  he  should  use  as  much  as  is  necessary  the 
language  of  the  pupil;  but  he  should  never  forget 
that  he  must  at  all  times  be  intelligible  to  all  the 
pupils.  This  is  excellent  advice.  But  this  whole 
question  is  not  nearly  so  important  a  one  as  is  that 
concerned  with  the  amount,  thoroughness,  kind, 
frequency,  and  variety  of  drill. 

Other  things  being  equal,  that  grammar  text 
should  be  used  in  which  the  Spanish  passages 
consist  of  connected  prose  describing  in  an  interest- 
ing way  the  events  and  situations  of  everyday  life  (in 
a  Spanish  country)  or  relating  short  stories  or  anec- 
dotes and  always  exemplifying  as  closely  as  possible 
the  principles  of  grammar  explained  and  illustrated 
in  the  lesson  of  which  it  is  a  part.  This  means,  of 
course,  that  a  "  grammar  book  "  prepared  in  this 
way,  with  readings  and  exercises,  is  not  a  grammar 
in  the  more  strictly  interpreted  meaning  of  the  term, 


METHODS  AND  DEVICES  •  1 47 

but  is,  rather,  a  combination  reader,  grammar,  and 
exercise  book.  Fortunately,  most  of  the  Spanish 
"  grammars  "  available  provide  this  combination  of 
material  in  a  manner  well  adapted  for  college  and 
older  high  school  students.  And  some  of  them  are 
particularly  felicitous  in  the  way  in  which  the  reading 
text  is  made  continuous  throughout  the  first  and 
greater  part  of  the  book.  But  it  is  the  belief  of  the 
author  that  few,  if  any,  of  these  books  are  well 
suited,  without  considerable  adaptation  by  the 
teacher,  to  the  use  of  the  Junior  High  School  pupil 
of  twelve,  thirteen,  or  fourteen  years  of  age. 

One  feature  of  the  grammar  books  now  commonly 
in  use  is  the  exercise  for  translation  from  English 
into  Spanish.  Often  these  sentences  consist  of 
unrelated,  disconnected,  and  stilted  sentences.  These 
sentences,  perhaps,  are  useful  in  teaching  older 
students,  those  of  the  upper  grades  of  the  four-year 
High  School  and  college  students,  in  whom  the 
reasoning  powers  are  developed  and  who  must  know 
the  reason  for  steps  to  be  taken  and  who  center 
their  attention  upon  the  form  rather  than  upon  the 
content  of  sentences  to  be  translated.  But  in  the 
instruction  in  Spanish  in  the  Junior  High  School, 
and  in  the  first  year  of  the  four-year  High  School, 
which  instruction  is  based  largely  on  imitation  and 
practice,  detached  sentences  for  translation  from 
English  into  Spanish  should  be  avoided.  Not 
until  the  third  year  of  the  Junior  High  School  should 
English-Spanish  translation  be  attempted  and,  even 
then,  only  sentences  connected  closely  in  thought 
and  content  should  be  used.     Certainly  the  first  kind 


148  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

of  grammar  exercises  done  by  the  young  student 
should  not  consist  in  translation  of  isolated  English 
sentences  into  Spanish.  Manipulations,  questions 
to  be  answered,  recastings,  filling  of  blanks,  oral 
and  written  repetitions  —  all  skillfully  devised  — 
are  pertinent  forms  of  exercises. 

Dictation 

To  the  suggestions  already  given  for  dictation  in 
Chapter  VII,  it  may  be  added  that  excellent  material 
for  this  type  of  work  is  a  short  summary,  prepared 
by  the  teacher,  of  a  story  previously  studied.  The 
following  device  is  also  suggested :  send  the  entire 
class  to  the  board  and  from  a  central  point  of  the 
room  give  the  dictation.  Have  pupils  change  places 
and  correct  each  other's  work.  As  a  check,  a  rapid 
examination  of  each  board  by  the  teacher  may  be 
made  after  the  class  is  seated.  These  dictations 
at  the  board  should  be  short. 

Composition 

Composition  may  be  oral  or  written.  It  may  be 
begun,  though  possibly  not  under  that  name,  in  the 
early  weeks  of  the  course,  even  in  Junior  High  School. 
Answers  elicited  in  response  to  skillful  questioning 
to  develop  a  topic,  when  put  together  in  consecutive 
form  by  the  pupils,  will  form  a  continuous  recital 
that  is  in  fact  composition  work.  Retellings  and 
descriptions  of  objects  and  situations  are  in  place 
from  the  start  and  may  be  classified  as  composition 


METHODS  AND  DEVICES  149 

work.  Free  reproduction  may  gradually  but  steadily 
be  introduced.  Later,  say  as  early  as  the  third 
term  of  the  ordinary  High  School  or  the  first  term 
of  the  Senior  High  School,  a  formal  composition  or 
prose  book  may  be  begun.  This  should,  in  a 
measure,  be  a  continuation  of  the  plan  of  "  doing 
tricks  with  the  language  " ;  but  a  large  part  of  this 
work  should  consist  of  translation  from  English 
into  Spanish  of  connected  (and  continuous)  prose, 
models  for  which  are  provided  in  a  preceding  Span- 
ish text,  likewise  connected  and  continuous,  and 
which  is  to  be  carefully  studied  before  the  English- 
Spanish  is  to  be  attempted.  A  suitable  book  of 
this  kind  should  also  provide  with  this  work  direc- 
tions for  an  accompanying  review  of  grammatical 
points,  all  of  which  are  illustrated  in  the  Spanish 
text  with  the  study  of  which  this  grammar  review  is 
connected.  The  English-Spanish  text  will  follow 
pretty  closely  the  immediately  preceding  Spanish 
text,  differing  from  it  scarcely  at  all  in  vocabulary 
and  chiefly  in  the  tense,  mood,  person,  or  number  of 
verbs  used,  numbers  of  nouns  (especially  of  noun 
subjects),  and  so  forth.  In  fact,  this  type  of  com- 
position book  is  a  continuation,  in  another  guise,  of 
the  manipulations  to  which  the  pupil  will  have 
already  been  habituated.  Emphasis  will  thus  be 
placed  on  expression  of  the  thought  in  Spanish 
rather  than  upon  word-for-word  translation.  Ac- 
companying Spanish-English  and  English-Spanish 
vocabularies  are  suitable ;  but  the  latter  will  not  be 
much  needed  if  the  book  is  carefully  planned  and 
correctly  handled   by  the  teacher,  who  must  give 


150  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

considerable  practice  upon  the  Spanish  model 
text  before  letting  the  class  write  the  English- 
Spanish  sections. 

In  the  third  year  of  the  Senior  High  School  or  of  the 
ordinary  High  School,  the  composition  work  may 
consist  of  short  passages  for  translation  into  Spanish 
based  on  simple  topics,  the  vocabulary  of  which 
should  be  approximately  that  of  the  prose  book 
previously  finished.  Or  free  composition  on  assigned 
topics  may  be  practiced.  One  way  to  handle  this 
free  composition  work  is  to  assign  to  only  one  member 
of  the  class  a  topic  on  which  to  write  two  or  three 
paragraphs  the  following  day.  Preferably,  he  will 
not  write  this  out,  but  will  think  on  his  subject  and 
the  vocabulary  necessary  therefor  and  in  the  first 
minutes  of  the  period,  or  before  the  class  begins,  he 
will  step  to  the  board  and  write  out  his  composition. 
When  the  class  has  finished  other  work  the  teacher 
will  make  corrections  and  suggestions.  This  centers 
attention  upon  one  piece  of  work,  and  in  the  criti- 
cisms evoked  from  the  class  almost  as  much  benefit 
results  to  the  group  and  to  the  individuals  there- 
of as  if  the  whole  class  had  written  upon  the 
topic  assigned.  Incidental  but  important  is  the 
fact  that  much  labor  in  correcting  papers  is  thus 
saved  the  teacher.  This  plan  might  be  extended 
to  include  three  or  four  students  a  day,  each  writing 
on  different  topics.  In  any  case,  all  members  of  the 
class  should  have  as  much  practice  as  the  leader  in 
this  kind  of  activity. 


METHODS  AND  DEVICES  1 51 

Correspondence 

A  phase  of  composition  work  to  which  considerable 
attention  is  given  in  teaching  Spanish  is  the  writing  of 
commercial  letters  in  that  language.  In  the  opinion 
of  the  author,  this  work  should  not  begin  until  after 
one  year  of  ordinary  composition  work  of  the  kind 
described  in  the  above  paragraphs.  The  important 
thing  for  a  student  of  Spanish  is  that  he  know  Span- 
ish ;  the  more  or  less  technical  language  of  business  is 
easily  superimposed,  as  a  layer,  if  you  will,  upon  a 
basis  of  a  well-acquired  knowledge  of  the  essentials 
of  Spanish.  To  attempt  to  learn  so-called  commer- 
cial Spanish  first,  is  putting  the  cart  before  the 
horse  ". 

The  book  used  as  a  basis  for  this  correspondence 
work  should  consist  not  only  of  model  letters  for 
study,  but  it  should  also  place  emphasis  on  business 
terms  and  phrases  by  means  of  careful  selection  and 
plenty  of  drill.  Short  model  letters  should  be  given 
for  memorizing.  Letters  in  English  for  translation 
should  follow  Spanish  models  previously  given  and 
should  differ  from  those  models  principally  in  the 
manner  and  order  in  which  technical  terms,  tenses 
of  verbs,  and  so  forth,  are  used.  The  vocabulary 
necessary  for  writing  these  English  into  Spanish 
letters  should  be  practically  identical  with  that  used 
in  the  preceding  model  letters.  Some  of  these  model 
letters  should  be  so  framed  that  one  type  of  the 
exercises  of  the  book  may  consist  of  writing  answers 
to  these  letters.  Answers  in  Spanish  should  be 
written  to  advertisements  in  Spanish  given  in  the 


152  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

correspondence  book  or  taken  from  Spanish  papers. 
Later  on,  the  teacher  may  vary  this  work  by  giving 
such  general  directions  as  these  for  free  composition 
in  letter  writing :  "  Write  a  letter  to  a  business  house 
in  Buenos  Aires,  offering  them  the  agency  for  a  line 
of  goods  you  manufacture.  Quote  terms  and  offer 
inducements.  Be  specific  and  courteous. "  Or,  "  In- 
corporate the  following  ideas  in  a  Spanish  letter  to 
Serafin  Mentecato,  Aldeahuela,  Cuba,"  etc.,  etc. 

Memory  Work 

Someone  has  said  that  the  great  art  of  life  is  for- 
getting ;  that  in  forgetting  the  useless  lies  liberation. 
In  a  similar  way  one  might  say  that  the  great  art  of 
language  acquisition  is  remembering.  There  are 
even  some  who  assert  that  the  only  faculty  of  the 
mind  that  is  involved  and  that  is  trained  in  the 
process  of  mastering  a  foreign  language  is  the  mem- 
ory. But  experienced  modern  language  teachers 
realize  that  the  study  of  a  language  also  brings  into 
play  and  develops  the  reasoning  powers  (as  in  the 
study  of  syntax),  by  training  the  mind  in  synthesis, 
analysis,  and  classification,  that  is,  in  habits  of  logical 
thought.  Likewise,  the  emotions  and  the  will  may 
be,  and  usually  are,  trained  in  language  study.  If 
only  memory  were  involved,  learning  a  language 
would  be  purely  an  art.  But  since  ideation  and 
logical  thought  are  at  the  same  time  involved,  ac- 
quiring a  foreign  language  becomes  in  part,  at  least, 
a  science. 

And  yet  learning  a  language  is,  at  least  for  the 


METHODS   AND  DEVICES  1 53 

high  school  pupil,  largely  an  art,  for  it  necessitates 
chiefly  a  training  of  the  memory,  both  of  the  mental 
and  the  physical  memory.  Sensory  and  motor 
nerves,  ear  and  eye  for  perception,  and  tongue  and 
other  muscles  for  expression  —  all  these  modalities 
must  be  trained  in  a  manner  quite  similar  to  that 
in  which  the  pianist,  the  vocalist,  or  the  violinist 
finds  it  necessary  to  drill  himself  day  after  day  and 
year  after  year.  And  the  neural  habit  thus  in- 
stituted is  at  least  one  factor,  the  physiological 
factor,  of  memory;  the  other  factor,  the  psychical 
factor,  is  a  specialized  form  of  association  of  ideas. 

Memory  is  both  retention  and  re-expression.  It 
is  the  power  to  retain  an  impression  and  to  repro- 
duce it  when  required.  Retention  is  conditioned 
upon : 

(1)  The  stability  of  the  nervous  system; 

(2)  The  intensity  of  the  stimulus ; 

(3)  The  breadth  and  strength  of  the  association 
of  ideas  awakened ; 

(4)  Repetition  of  the  stimulus  with  the  proviso 
that  this  repetition  be  made  under  proper  conditions 
and  that  the  time  element  be  present,  that  is,  an 
interval  of  time  must  exist  between  the  repetitions 
(this  is  often  called  the  "  memory  span  ") ; 

(5)  Interest; 

(6)  The  number  of  modalities  or  senses  employed 
in  the  perception  of  the  original  stimulus  and  in  the 
repetition  of  the  stimulus. 

Recollection  and  re-expression  are  conditioned 
upon  at  least  the  following  elements : 

(1)  Permanency  of  the  original  impression; 


154  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

(2)  Vividness  of  the  impression ; 

(3)  Organization  of  the  concepts  resulting  from 
the  percepts,  and  the  building  up  of  appercepts ; 

(4)  A  habit  of  recalling. 

It  is  pertinent  to  examine  into  the  procedure  to 
be  used  in  teaching  memory  passages  in  foreign 
languages,  keeping  in  mind  the  underlying  prin- 
ciples of  memory  as  outlined  above. 

The  passage  to  be  memorized  should  be,  first, 
interesting.  This  means  that  it  must  express  ideas 
within  the  comprehension  of  the  pupil  and  in  lan- 
guage fitted  to  his  stage  of  progress.  It  means  that 
these  ideas  should  be  such  as  the  pupil's  mind  will 
center  upon  chiefly  with  involuntary  attention.  It 
means  that,  if  necessary,  apperceptive  masses,  a 
milieu,  should  previously  be  built  up  so  that  these 
ideas  must  be  interesting.  Second,  the  ideas  of  the 
passage  should  be  vivid. 

The  method  of  presentation  and  use  should  in- 
clude :  (1)  Appeal  to  as  many  modalities  as  possible. 
The  pupil  should  hear  the  selection,  should  write  it 
at  dictation,  should  read  it  individually  and  in  con- 
cert with  the  other  members  of  the  class ;  (2)  Analysis 
of  the  selection  for  difficulties  and  for  organization 
of  the  material  therein,  with  particular  reference  to 
the  principles  of  apperception ;  (3)  Repetition  of  the 
passage  —  orally,  in  writing,  in  chorus.  These  repe- 
titions should  be  at  expected  and  at  unexpected 
times.  Without  frequent  repetition  the  time  first 
spent  in  learning  is  wasted.  Only  one  or  two  re- 
callings  will  not  fix  a  passage  in  the  memory.  Re- 
tention is  predicated  upon  recalling.     (4)  Observance 


METHODS  AND  DEVICES  155 

of  the  time  element,  of  the  "memory  span".  The 
interval  of  time  between  repetitions  should  be 
gradually  lengthened. 

The  purposes  of  teaching  memory  passages  are 
at  least  two:  (1)  To  give  the  student  for  life-long 
retention  thoughts  of  exceptional  worth,  beauty,  or 
power,  clothed  in  terms  of  the  foreign  language  that 
are  simple  yet  forceful.  If  the  passages  selected 
arouse  the  higher  emotions  —  such  as  patriotism, 
compassion,  filial  affection,  and  love  of  the  beautiful 
—  tanto  mejor.  Many  persons  whose  occupations 
have  not  necessitated  a  continuation  of  the  use  of  a 
language  have  retained  out  of  several  years  of  the 
study  of  that  language  little  concrete  evidence  of 
that  study  other  than  the  passages  they  committed 
to  memory.  It  is  difficult  or  impossible,  of  course, 
to  estimate  the  training  of  the  reasoning  powers 
that  they  obtained  from  that  study.  (2)  To  create 
a  "  feeling  "  for  the  foreign  language.  To  that  end 
prose  passages  representative  of  the  normal  usages 
and  vocabulary  are  preferable  material.  Next  to 
abundant  daily  use  of  a  foreign  language,  memory 
selections  will  do  most  to  create  this  much-to-be- 
desired  "  feeling  "  for  a  language. 

Proverbs,  in  which  the  Spanish  language  is  so 
exceedingly  rich  and  which  so  concisely  express  the 
age-long  wisdom  of  Spanish  peoples,  should  be 
memorized  from  the  early  stages  onward.  Idioms, 
of  which  it  sometimes  seems  the  Spanish  language 
entirely  consists,  are,  por  excelencia,  a  staple  for 
memory  work.  Colloquial  phrases  are  likewise  fit 
material.     The  type  sentences  of  the  grammar  book 


156  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

should  be  unfailingly  memorized.  A  summary, 
prepared  by  the  pupil,  may  be  memorized  after  it 
has  been  corrected  by  the  teacher.  The  content  of 
the  story  as  well  as  connected  Spanish  prose  is  thus 
mastered  and  ready  for  refashioning  to  suit  future 
uses. 

Oral  Practice 

Sufficient  has  been  said  in  a  previous  chapter 
concerning  oral  practice.  It  is  pertinent,  however, 
to  point  out  again  that  properly  conducted  oral 
practice  makes  for  aural  comprehension  of  Spanish, 
and  for  training  of  the  sensory  nerves  to  stimuli  in 
Spanish  and  of  the  motor  nerves  in  carrying  out 
the  reactions  of  the  brain  to  those  stimuli ;  affords 
a  means  of  awakening  and  holding  interest;  and 
eventually  leads  to  real  reading,  that  is,  instant 
mental  comprehension  of  the  presentations  of  the 
ocular  nerves  plus  those  of  the  auditory  nerves  — 
for,  as  we  know,  even  in  silent  reading  (especially  of  a 
foreign  language)  we  seem  to  hear  as  well  as  see  the 
printed  words. 


CHAPTER   Xn 

A  MISCELLANY   OF  SUGGESTIONS 

Labels  in  Spanish  for  objects  in  the  classroom.    It 

is  helpful,  especially  in  classes  of  younger  pupils,  to 
affix  to  the  desk,  map,  wall,  blackboard,  chalk  box, 
eraser,  and  so  forth,  a  neatly  lettered  label,  el  mapa, 
la  pared,  el  borrador.  This  gives  a  means,  especially 
to  beginning  students,  of  associating  with  the  object 
its  name  in  Spanish  and  of  making  a  "  direct  " 
appeal  to  the  eye.  Entrada,  salida,  haga  el  favor  de 
cerrar  la  puerta,  and  so  forth,  will  afford  material 
for  placards  to  be  affixed  to  the  doors. 

Proverbs.  Clearly  printed  Spanish  proverbs  may 
be  posted  up  about  the  room.  Thus  placed,  they 
make  a  surprisingly  deep  impression  upon  the  in- 
quisitive minds  of  children.  It  is  best  to  have  these 
memorized  before  they  are  thus  posted.  An  able 
instructor  in  science  was  recently  heard  to  say  that 
the  only  things  that  had  remained  with  him  from 
all  his  study  of  a  certain  language  were  the  proverbs 
he  had  learned  in  the  early  part  of  his  high  school 
study  of  that  language. 

On  sending  a  pupil  to  the  board.  It  is  a  good  plan 
in  assigning  sentence  work  at  the  board  to  accustom 
the  pupils  to  this  procedure  :  When  a  pupil's  name  is 
called,  he  says,  Tomo  la  primera  oraci6n,  Voy  a 

J57 


158  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

escribir  la  quinta  frase,  and  so  forth.  This  gives 
practical  drill  in  ordinal  numerals  and  contributes 
to  the  fulfillment  of  the  desirable  practice  of  using 
as  much  Spanish  as  possible  in  the  classroom. 

A  letter  to  teacher.  Vd.  no  estuvo  en  la  clase 
ayer,  sefior  Jones.  Vaya  Vd.  al  pizarron  a  escribirme 
una  carta  en  que  me  diga  la  causa  de  su  ausencia, 
says  a  teacher  to  a  pupil  of  advanced  grade.  Jones 
thus  does  not  escape  work  by  absence  and,  inciden- 
tally, will  probably  find  considerable  interest  in 
telling  in  Spanish  about  what  he  did  when  absent. 

Spelling  in  Spanish.  When  teacher  says  to  Mary, 
Deletree  Vd.  la  palabra,  it  sounds  odd,  to  say  the 
least,  to  hear  Mary  reply  in  English.  It  is  an  easy 
matter,  even  for  the  youngest  beginners,  to  learn 
to  give  Spanish  names  to  the  letters  in  spelling. 
It  is  not  necessary  for  them  to  start  by  memorizing 
the  alphabet  consecutively.  If  the  teacher  begins 
by  spelling  words  in  Spanish  and  has  the  class  repeat 
them,  in  a  very  short  time  the  pupils  will  learn  to 
name  the  letters  properly  and  quickly  and  be  able  to 
spell  as  readily  in  Spanish  as  in  English.  They 
find  fascination  in  doing  so.  From  the  first  term 
to  the  last,  teachers  should  expect  and  obtain  the 
spelling  of  words  according  to  Spanish  custom. 

Suitable  questions.  Question-and-answer  in  Span- 
ish, as  a  form  of  oral  practice,  is  excellent  pro- 
cedure and  a  plan  widely  used.  Much  care,  how- 
ever, should  be  taken  with  young  pupils  as  to  the 
form  of  the  questions  the  teacher  asks.  With  them 
it  is  well  first  to  employ  principally  that  form  of 
question  the  answer  to  which  will  consist  of  the  same 


A  MISCELLANY  OF  SUGGESTIONS  159 

words  with  necessary  variations  of  word  order  for 
the  declarative  sentence  of  the  answer  or,  possibly, 
with  a  change  in  person  or  number  of  the  verb. 
iSe  fue  el  muchacho  en  seguida?  Si,  seiior,  el 
muchacho  se  fue  en  seguida.  I  Ir&  Vd.  a  verle? 
Si,  sefiorita,  ire  a  verle.  Then  probably  next  in 
order  should  be  practiced  interrogations  with  £  Que? 
I  Quien  ?  i  (A  or  en)  donde  ?  I  Como  ?  i  Cuando  ? 
iCual(es)?  etc.  ^Por  que?  may  properly  be  con- 
sidered the  most  difficult  type  of  question,  since  it 
requires  investigation  and,  sometimes,  close  reason- 
ing. The  next  step  after  questions  of  this  sort  is 
the  use  of  directions  (commands)  such  as  :  Describa 
Vd.  la  casa  de  Miguel.  Diga  algo  de  la  madre  de 
Josef  a.    De  un  resumen  de  lo  que  aqui  se  dice. 

Flash  cards.  Have  you  ever  used  flash  cards  ? 
They  add  great  interest  to  the  recitation,  quicken 
and  automatize  reaction,  deepen  impressions,  in 
short,  afford  an  excellent  means  of  drill.  You  can 
make  them  yourself  or  have  a  pupil  make  them.  Use 
thin,  tough  cardboard,  and  have  the  lettering  large 
enough  to  be  read  easily  from  any  part  of  the  room. 
On  the  back  of  each,  for  the  teacher's  convenience, 
should  be  written  the  same  material  that  is  on  the 
front  of  the  card.  Ingenuity  will  suggest  countless 
ways  of  preparing  material  for  this  purpose.  Several 
series  will  be  found  necessary  in  order  to  get  the 
greatest  benefits  from  this  scheme.  Blanks  to  be 
filled  (with  interrogatives,  demonstratives,  relatives, 
prepositions,  verbs,  adjectives,  etc.),  numbers  to  be 
read,  added,  subtracted,  or  multiplied,  nouns,  ad- 
jectives, or  sentences  to  be  pluralized  or  singularized, 


160  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

short  sentences  to  be  translated  or  changed  as  to 
tense,  and  so  forth,  are  a  few  of  the  devices  possible. 
The  teacher  holds  the  cards  in  a  pack  before  the  class, 
quickly  transfers  to  the  front  of  the  pack  the  one  in 
the  back,  selects  (in  seating  order  or  otherwise)  an 
individual  to  answer,  allows  no  hesitation,  interrup- 
tions, or  prompting  in  the  answering,  and  calls  on 
each  member  of  the  class  at  least  twice.  This  rapid 
work  should,  of  course,  be  followed  for  only  a  part 
of  a  period,  as  it  is  highly  fatiguing  to  both  pupils 
and  teacher. 

Cardinal  numerals.  In  teaching  cardinal  nu- 
merals, let  the  pupil  walk  across  the  room  and  have 
him  count  aloud  in  Spanish  his  steps.  Or  have  the 
class  count  in  concert.  The  wall  calendar  is  not 
only  useful  in  teaching  the  date,  the  days,  and  the 
months,  but  affords  a  good  basis  for  "  number 
work  "  in  Spanish.  The  figures  of  the  calendar  may 
be  used  as  the  multiplicands  in  giving  orally  say  the 
multiplication  table  of  2's  or  3's.  Or  the  numbers 
may  be  added  by  vertical  columns.  Or  in  a  class  of 
young  children  ten  may  be  chosen  and  named  with 
the  first  ten  cardinal  numbers.  They  stand  before 
the  class  in  order  and  repeat  their  "  names  "  for- 
ward and  backward.  Then  the  class  repeats  them. 
Then  they  are  written  on  the  board.  Children 
should  be  led  to  read  numbers  in  Spanish  wher- 
ever they  see  them,  for  example,  on  room  doors,  car 
transfers,  automobile  licenses.  They  should  be  told 
to  count  their  steps  as  they  walk  along  the  street, 
or  as  they  go  up  stairways.  Girls  who  knit  might 
count  in  Spanish  their  stitches. 


A  MISCELLANY  OF  SUGGESTIONS  l6l 

Variants  and  synonyms.  With  upper  term  classes 
it  is  excellent  practice  to  give  considerable  attention 
to  variants  and  synonyms.  One  method  is  to  have  a 
passage  reread  and  synonyms  substituted  for  pre- 
viously indicated  expressions.  This  may  be  done 
in  both  reading  and  composition  work.  Another 
way  to  handle  the  matter  is  to  assign  to  each  student 
a  paragraph,  or  a  portion  of  one,  with  directions  to 
make  substitutions  (oral  or  written)  for  as  many  verbs 
as  he  can,  or  adjectives  or  adverbs.  Or  the  same 
paragraph  may  be  assigned  to  three  or  four  in- 
dividuals, one  changing  one  part  of  speech  and  the 
others  changing  other  parts.  All  this  work  should, 
of  course,  be  done  without  materially  changing  the 
sense  of  the  original.  Such  work  leads  the  student 
away  from  the  idea,  so  often  held,  that  there  is  but 
one  way  to  express  a  given  thought  in  the  foreign 
language.  Of  course  the  more  advanced  a  class  is, 
the  more  successfully  and  profitably  can  such  work 
be  done.  But  even  in  some  of  the  lower  terms  a 
beginning  can  be  made  at  this  helpful  kind  of  activity. 
A  related  plan  is  to  substitute  antonyms  instead  of 
synonyms  for  indicated  expressions. 

Concert  work.  Group  activity,  group  power,  and, 
,to  a  good  extent,  individual  power  —  especially  for 
the  timid  pupil  —  is  developed  by  concert  work 
that  is  done  in  complete  unison  and  under  strict 
control.  Not  every  teacher  can  successfully  conduct 
concert  recitation.  But  for  the  teacher  who  can  do 
so,  many  ways  are  open  for  effecting  concert  drill; 
for  example,  in  the  repetition  by  the  class  of  verbs 
conjugated   in   phrases,   in   counting   aloud,  and  in 


162  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

giving  in  unison  type  sentences  of  the  grammar  lesson. 
Concert  answers  are  unwise  unless  they  be  the  repe- 
tition of  answers  or  statements  first  made  correctly 
by  some  one  individual.  Concert  reading  of  prose 
is  successful  with  some  classes  but  a  waste  of  time 
with  others.  If  it  takes  considerable  time  to  develop 
unison  in  reading  prose,  the  attempt  would  better 
be  abandoned. 

Foolish  questions.  If  you  know  that  you  hold 
your  class  in  the  hollow  of  your  hand,  try  asking  them 
foolish  questions  in  Spanish  based  on  sentence  or 
paragraph  units  of  the  lesson.  Thus,  a  pupil  reads : 
Los  caballos  comen  heno  y  las  gallinas  comen  avena. 
Ask  the  pupil:  £Come  Vd.  heno?  £  Come  Vd. 
gallinas?  £  Comen  los  caballos  a  las  gallinas? 
This  plan,  if  not  used  too  frequently,  makes  interest 
keen  and  tests  in  a  very  certain  manner  under- 
standing of  oral  questions.  When  such  questions 
are  asked  with  apparent  seriousness,  first  will  be 
noticed  amazement  or  puzzled  expressions.  Then 
as  the  light  breaks,  a  smile  comes  and  the  pupil  has  a 
feeling  of  satisfaction  in  knowing  that  he  did  under- 
stand rightly  after  all,  though  at  first  he  "  could  not 
believe  his  ears  ". 

Secretary's  reports.  A  variation  of  the  usual 
method  of  conducting  a  class  is  that  afforded  by  a 
semi-parliamentary  procedure  in  which  the  teacher 
acts  as  chairman  and  a  secretary  is  appointed  to 
take  down  in  Spanish  the  incidents  of  the  session 
of  the  class.  These  minutes  are  read  at  the  next 
meeting  and  corrections  are  made.  The  several 
members  of  the  class  may  do  this  in  turn. 


A  MISCELLANY  OF  SUGGESTIONS  163 

Perceiving  the  pupil's  difficulty.  It  is  sometimes 
hard  to  ascertain  the  root  cause  of  a  pupil's  error, 
even  when  he  takes  the  pains  to  try  to  explain  what 
is  troubling  his  soul.  Patience,  sympathy,  searching 
questions,  forceful  and  concise  explanations  are 
needed  to  clear  up  a  pupil's  incomprehension  or 
miscomprehension  of  a  point.  Be  it  remarked,  de 
paso,  that  language  teachers  born  and  trained  abroad 
are  apt,  naturally,  to  be  weaker  in  this  respect  than 
are  teachers  born  and  educated  in  this  country.  It 
is  in  fact  at  this  point  that  we  find  most  of  the  failures 
of  those  of  our  language  teachers  who  were  born  and 
trained  in  other  countries,  especially  among  those 
who  have  not  mastered  English. 

Sentence  work.  Suppose  the  lesson  of  the  day 
consists  of  the  translation  of  English  sentences  into 
Spanish.  (Let  us  hope  that  they  are  connected  in 
thought  and  based  on  preceding  Spanish  models.) 
The  sentences  will  have  been  prepared  beforehand 
by  the  pupils,  either  by  study,  without  writing,  of 
what  the  Spanish  version  should  be,  or  by  writing 
them  out  in  full.  The  class  appears.  The  teacher 
directs  that  the  papers,  if  there  are  any,  be  turned 
face  downwards  in  the  book  and  the  book  closed. 
The  teacher  gives  orally  the  English  sentence.  The 
pupil  called  on  gives  orally  the  Spanish  for  it.  If 
incorrect,  others  are  called  on  until  the  correct  form 
is  given.  The  pupil  giving  it  correctly  steps  to  the 
board  and  writes  the  sentence.  This  work  is  done 
in  a  lively  manner  until  all  the  sentences  have  been 
written  in  this  way.  The  teacher  stands  in  the  rear 
of  the  room  and  reads  the  sentences  silently,  with- 


164  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

out  comment,  except  in  case  of  errors.  Variants 
may  be  suggested  by  pupils.  Then  the  paper 
work  is  exchanged  and  compared  with  that  on  the 
board.  Is  not  this  obviously  a  better  plan  of  action 
than  it  is  to  have  the  pupils  go  to  the  board  and  write 
the  sentences  by  translating  direct  from  their  books 
or  copying  from  their  papers  ?  Incidentally,  it  pre- 
vents unfair  copying  of  sentences  done  as  "  home 
work". 

Another  method  of  doing  sentence  work  in  such  a 
way  as  to  apply  the  grammatical  principles  of  the 
day's  lesson  is  to  collect  prepared  written  work  and 
send  the  entire  class  to  the  board.  The  teacher 
then  dictates  slowly  in  English  short,  impromptu 
sentences  incorporating  the  principles  of  grammar, 
and  the  pupils  write  at  once  the  Spanish  for  each 
English  sentence.  Pupils  exchange  places  and  cor- 
rect each  other's  work.  The  teacher  quickly  re- 
views the  work  and  the  corrections. 

The  use  of  pause.  Let  not  the  strenuous  teacher 
of  Spanish  who  believes  in  great  activity  in  the  class- 
room on  the  part  of  the  class  and  himself,  fail  to 
take  into  account  the  value  of  frequent  pauses  in 
his  onward-rushing  recitation.  The  teacher,  no  less 
than  the  actor,  becomes  several  degrees  more  effective 
when  he  checks  his  rush  of  words  and  thus  breaks 
the  monotony  of  his  utterance.  A  pause  for  a 
statement  to  "  sink  in  "  ;  a  pause  to  give  the  student 
a  chance  to  think  before  replying;  a  pause  to  give 
himself  sufficient  time  to  organize  his  procedure 
and  to  recall  what  his  particular  aim  is  in  the  lesson 
at  which  he  is  working  so  hard;    a  pause  to  see 


A  MISCELLANY  OF  SUGGESTIONS  165 

whether  the  pupils  are  doing  as  much  as  he  himself 
is.  A  "  change  of  speed  "  is  as  desirable  and  as 
helpful  to  the  language  teacher  as  to  the  baseball 
pitcher. 

Diaries  kept  in  Spanish.  The  members  of  the 
class  may  be  required  to  keep  a  diary  in  Spanish  of 
their  activities  in  and  out  of  school  for  say  a  week, 
and  one  session  per  week  may  be  devoted  to  the 
reading,  discussion,  and  correction  of  the  entries 
made.  This  scheme  creates  interest  and  gives  a 
practical  turn  to  the  work. 

Realia  and  illustrative  material.  We  should  never 
lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  great  advantage  is  derived 
from  the  use  of  realia,  "  the  real  things  "  of  the  foreign 
country.  It  is  sometimes  difficult  to  obtain  Spanish 
realia  and  illustrative  material  without  a  visit  to 
Spain.  Some  find  it  easier^however,  to  secure 
from  friends  in  Souths ^f^Central  America  such 
objects.1  Some  of  those  things  that  can  be  secured 
with  a  little  effort  are  calendars,  posters  and  post- 
card views,  postcard  and  other  reproductions  of 
Spanish  paintings  (of  which  Spain  has  produced  so 
many  for  the  delectation  of  the  world),  sets  of  coins 
and  postage  stamps  of  Spanish  lands,  samples  of 
the  natural  products  (especially  of  Spanish  America), 
samples  of  the  smaller,  but  characteristic,  manu- 
factured products  of  Spain  (such  as  pottery,  silver 
filigree  work,  the  Damascene  jewelry  of  Toledo  and 
Eibar),  and  magazines  and  newspapers  of  Spain 
and  South  America.  He  who  has  visited  Spain 
will   save   for  classroom   use  such   things  as  street 

1  See  Chapter  XVII  for  further  suggestions  in  this  respect. 


166  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

car  and  bus  tickets  (given  as  receipts  on  payment 
of  fare),  tickets  of  admission  to  galleries  and  museums 
(where  one  is  permitted  often  to  retain  a  portion  of 
the  pasteboard),  and  trifles  like  match  boxes,  theat- 
rical programs,  and  bull-fight  tickets,  and,  mayhap, 
a  magnolia  or  pomegranate  blossom  plucked  within 
the  sacred  precincts  of  the  Alhambra  or  the  Genera- 
life  and  pressed  and  preserved.  These  "  real  things  " 
arouse  tremendous  interest  and  help  the  student 
to  visualize  the  life  and  customs  of  Spain  or  Chile 
or  Mexico,  as  the  case  may  be.1 

Visiting.  Do  you  get  about  your  own  building 
and  see  what  your  fellow  teachers  of  Spanish  and 
related  departments  are  doing?  Or  are  you  going 
on  from  day  to  day  and  from  year  to  year  without 
the  help  and  inspiration  that  come  from  seeing 
how  some  one  else  meets  the  same  problems  and 
performs  the  same  tasks  that  you  have?  Why 
not  make  it  a  point  to  visit  other  teachers  at  least 
twice  a  week,  sometimes  within  the  Spanish  De- 
partment, sometimes  in  the  Latin,  French,  or  English 
Department  ?  In  any  of  these  classes,  whether 
taught  by  tyros  or  experts,  you  will  doubtless  find 
more  to  approve  and  to  profit  from  than  to  condemn. 
Few,  if  any,  teachers  object  to  being  visited  ;  rather, 
the  effect  is  usually  equally  good,  and  pleasantly 
so,  upon  the  visitor  and  the  teacher  visited.  It 
is  surprising  how  it  takes  us  out  of  our  ruts  to  visit 

1  See  report  of  the  Committee  on  Aims  and  Scope  of  Realien 
(geography,  history,  and  institutions)  of  the  New  York  State 
Modern  Language  Association,  published  in  the  Bulletin  of 
that  association,  November,  1917;    Spanish  section,  pp.  14-17* 


A  MISCELLANY  OF  SUGGESTIONS  1 67 

some  other  instructor.  The  principal,  or  the  chair- 
man of  department,  whose  chief  function  it  is  to 
visit,  criticize,  and  suggest,  knows  that  he  himself 
gets  a  great  deal  of  personal  help  from  his  daily 
visits  in  the  rooms  of  his  teachers. 

Idioms.  Idiomatic  expressions,  so  numerous  and 
often  so  complex  in  Spanish,  should  have  special 
attention  throughout  the  course.  They  should  be 
memorized,  manipulated,  and  practiced  constantly. 
One  method  consists  of  the  selection  by  the  teacher 
of  verbal  idioms  from  the  reading  text.  These 
are  then  recorded  by  the  pupils,  in  the  infinitive 
forms,  in  an  idiom  book.  In  groups  of  ten  or  so 
they  are  memorized  and  worked  over  and  over. 
At  a  later  recitation  period,  a  ten-minute  written 
test  is  given  on  these  idioms.  The  test  may  be, 
for  instance,  of  this  nature :  The  expression  is  dic- 
tated in  the  infinitive  form  in  Spanish  and  the  stu- 
dents are  required  to  compose  original  sentences 
containing  the  idioms  in  a  specified  tense  or  mood. 
Or  the  teacher  may  compose  and  dictate  in  English 
short  sentences  to  be  translated  into  Spanish,  each 
of  which  will  require  the  use  of  one  of  the  idioms  in 
question. 

Word-grouping  and  cognates  to  English.  In 
assigning  reading,  pupils  may  be  required  to  find 
a  certain  number  of  words  that  have  the  same  stem 
as  a  word  selected  by  the  teacher.  Or  they  will 
make  a  list  of  Spanish  words  that  have  English 
cognates.  Or  they  will  prepare  a  list  of  words  — 
say  nouns  —  which  are  concerned  with  some  activity 
to  which  allusion  is  made  in  the  reading,  such   as : 


1 68  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

going  hunting,  renting  a  house,  or  taking  a  street- 
car ride. 

At  the  window.  Send  a  pupil  to  the  window 
to  tell  the  class  in  Spanish  what  he  sees  outside. 
He  names  a  few  objects  readily  enough  and  then 
stops.  Then  comes  a  mental  search  for  Spanish 
names  of  other  objects.  The  teacher  gives  help 
judiciously  or  sends  another  pupil  to  continue  the 
list.  Finally,  all  the  members  are  sent  to  the  win- 
dow to  compete  with  each  other  in  writing  on  slips 
of  paper  as  many  Spanish  names  of  things  they  see 
as  possible.     The  one  having  the  largest  list  wins. 

To  test  quickly  the  entire  class.  Si  Vd.  puede 
contestar  bien  a  la  pregunta,  p6ngase  de  pie,  says 
the  teacher  when  he  desires  to  know  what  members 
of  the  class  are  or  are  not  following  the  work  with 
attention  and  profit.  If  not  used  overmuch,  this 
device  has  the  advantage  of  making  more  acute 
the  pupil's  realization  either  of  his  success  or  failure 
in  doing  the  class  work. 

Correction  of  prose  work.  When  translation 
from  English  into  Spanish  is  placed  on  the  board, 
little  attention  need  be  paid  to  the  English  of  the 
book,  much  to  the  Spanish  on  the  board.  The 
student  may  read  aloud  the  Spanish  he  has  written. 
Suggestions  are  then  made  by  the  other  pupils  and 
the  teacher.  The  one  who  wrote  the  work  is  then 
sent  back  to  make  the  corrections  agreed  upon. 
The  teacher  should  make  a  second  rapid  examina- 
tion to  see  that  all  corrections  have  been  made. 

Use  of  the  Bible  in  Spanish  classes.  Most  of  our 
pupils  are  familiar  with  some  portions  of  the  Bible. 


A  MISCELLANY  OF  SUGGESTIONS  169 

Some  of  them  have  had  extensive  training  in  it. 
The  Old  Testament  may  be  used  without  objection 
from  any  of  the  parents  of  these  pupils.  In  classes 
whose  members  are  all  Gentiles,  the  New  Testament, 
as  well  as  the  Old,  may  be  used.  And  in  this  way. 
A  Spanish  edition  of  the  Bible  is  easily  obtained 
(from  the  American  Bible  Society,  if  from  no  other 
source).  Select  passages  which  are  widely  familiar 
because  of  their  beauty  or  philosophy.  After  read- 
ing the  English  version  of  the  23d  rsalm,  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount,  St.  Paul's  chapter  to  the  Co- 
rinthians on  charity,  or  a  similar  passage,  read  the 
Spanish  version  of  the  same  selection.  Then  dic- 
tate it  and  have  it  committed  to  memory.  Urge 
those  who  are  students  of  the  Bible  to  make  use  of 
the  Spanish  version  constantly  in  the  preparation 
of  their  Sunday  School  lessons  and  in  private  study. 
It  is  remarkable  how  much  Spanish  may  be  ac- 
quired in  this  way.  Familiar  thoughts  expressed  in 
Spanish  help  greatly  to  an  understanding  and  ac- 
quirement of  that  tongue. 

Repetition  of  corrections.  In  no  branch  of  high 
school  study  is  it  so  necessary  to  adhere  to  the  good 
old  proverb  repetitio  mater  est  studiorum  as  in  teach- 
ing and  learning  a  modern  language.  When  a 
student  gives  an  incorrect  sentence  in  the  foreign 
language  and  is  corrected  by  his  fellow-student  or 
by  the  teacher,  the  first  student  should  always  be 
required  to  repeat  correctly  the  sentence,  usually 
several  times.  Then  the  entire  class  should  repeat 
it  in  concert.  Careless  pronunciations  should  like- 
wise be  corrected  by  much  repetition  of  the  correct 


170  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

pronunciation.  There  is  this  great  value  in  repe- 
tition :  it  forms  correct  speech  habits  and  makes 
them  automatic,  if  and  when  the  thing  repeated  is 
given  in  its  proper  form. 

Oral  translation  from  hearing.  The  students 
close  their  books.  The  teacher  or,  in  more  ad- 
vanced classes,  a  student  who  reads  Spanish  well, 
stands  before  the  class  and  reads  a  paragraph  of 
the  reading  lesson  which  has  already  been  prepared. 
(In  higher  classes  material  from  the  advance  lesson, 
not  yet  prepared,  or  passages  from  a  text  that  the 
pupils  are  not  familiar  with,  may  be  used.)  The 
paragraph  is  reread,  one  sentence  or  clause  at  a 
time,  and  pupils  are  called  upon  to  give  the  mean- 
ing thereof  in  English.  The  aim  should  be  to  give 
the  thought,  not  a  literal  translation.  This  device 
trains  the  ear  and  develops  comprehension  of  a 
thought  expressed  as  a  whole  in  Spanish.  This  is 
a  particularly  good  scheme  as  a  preliminary  step 
to  writing  at  dictation.  The  same  passage  may  be 
used  the  following  day  for  dictation  purposes. 

Questioning  in  Spanish  extended  to  include  the 
pupil's  experiences.  In  the  treatment  of  the  read- 
ing lesson  it  is  quite  customary  for  the  teacher  to 
ask  and  the  pupil  to  answer  questions  put  in  Spanish 
concerning  the  form  or  content  of  the  paragraph 
read.  This  is  a  good  form  of  oral  practice  and,  if 
properly  handled,  the  lesson  may  be  developed 
without  much  recourse  to  English.  This  question- 
ing may,  and  frequently  should,  be  amplified  in 
such  a  way  as  to  lead  the  pupil  to  discuss  in  the 
vocabulary  of  the  lesson  his  own  experiences.     Thus  : 


A  MISCELLANY  OF  SUGGESTIONS  171 

Suppose  the  paragraph  relates  how  Jorge  became 
acquainted  with  Juan.  After  asking  questions  bring- 
ing out  the  chief  circumstances  and  thus  testing  the 
pupil's  comprehension  of  what  he  has  read,  ask 
him  such  questions  as :  1  Conoce  Vd.  a  Juan  ? 
<?Tiene  Vd.  muchos  conocidos?  <:Le  conoce  a 
Vd.  el  director  de  este  colegio?  <:A  quien  quisiera 
Vd.  conocer?  <?Que  diria  Vd.  en  espanol  para 
presentar  una  persona  a  otra?  <*Que  diria  Vd.  al 
ser  presentado  al  seiior  Blanco?  And  so  forth. 
Care  must  be  taken  to  suit  the  questions  to  the 
pupil's  vocabulary  and  to  his  probable  experience 
in  life.  This  kind  of  work  should  be  done  with 
considerable  liveliness  and  variation.  When  so  used 
it  will  vitalize  and  lend  interest  to  the  class  work. 

Inter-class  visiting.  Once  or  twice  each  half- 
year  it  is  well  to  have  upper-term  students  visit 
lower-term  classes  in  Spanish.  The  idea  is  peda- 
gogically  sound.  Among  the  benefits  of  this  prac- 
tice that  may  be  enumerated  are  the  following : 
(1)  The  older  pupils  are  encouraged  on  seeing  that 
the  work  of  the  lower  class  seems  now  so  simple. 
They  feel  that  they  have  made  progress.  (2)  The 
younger  pupils  are  put  upon  their  mettle  to  show 
their  more  advanced  fellow-students  what  they  are 
capable  of  doing.  (3)  The  interest  of  all  the  pupils 
is  much  augmented  by  this  contact.  (4)  An  esprit 
de  corps  within  the  Spanish  Department  is  aroused 
among  both  teachers  and  pupils.  The  members  of 
the  higher  classes  may  be  asked  to  make  in  Spanish 
a  report  upon  their  visit  and  to  give  suggestions  for 
the  improvement  of  the  work  with  the  young  pupils. 


172  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

Of  course  the  higher  class  may  and  should  be  divided 
into  three  or  four  groups  of  visitors  so  that  the  lower 
classes  may  not  be  crowded. 

It  may  be  desirable  also  to  have  the  lower  classes 
visit  the  higher  occasionally,  though  it  seems  prob- 
able that  not  so  much  benefit  may  be  obtained  for 
all  in  this  way,  as  the  work  of  the  advanced  class 
is  likely  to  be  above  the  comprehension  of  the  ele- 
mentary pupils.  Intervisiting  of  classes  of  the 
same  grade  but  having  different  teachers  is  another 
phase  of  this  plan  which  is  worthy  of  consideration. 

Probably  next  to  the  intervisiting  of  teachers, 
the  intervisiting  of  classes  will  do  most  to  unify 
and  consolidate  the  work  of  the  Spanish  Depart- 
ment. 

Verb  nomenclature  in  Spanish.  It  is  usually 
desirable  to  use  in  naming  the  tenses  of  a  foreign 
language  the  terminology  employed  by  the  native 
speakers  of  that  language.  In  the  teaching  of 
Spanish  there  arises,  however,  a  difficulty  in  this 
respect  that  is  two-fold.  First,  the  nomenclature 
used  in  the  Gramdtica  de  la  Real  Academia  is  very 
complicated  and  not  in  consonance  with  that  used 
in  other  languages.  Second,  the  terms  used  in 
other  standard  grammars,  such  as  the  Bello-Cuervo, 
do  not  conform  to  those  used  in  the  Academy  Gram- 
mar or  in  any  other  book  and  are  likewise  unwieldy 
and  out  of  harmony  with  the  terms  used  in  other 
languages.  Hence,  it  has  been  desirable,  if  not 
absolutely  necessary,  here  in  the  United  States  to 
establish  a  new  and  different  set  of  terminology 
with    respect   to   Spanish   verbs.     The    aim   sought 


A  MISCELLANY  OF  SUGGESTIONS  173 

has  been  simplicity  and  uniformity.  The  more 
recent  textbooks  produced  in  this  country,  as  well 
as  the  frequently  accepted  but  not  officially  recog- 
nized usage  in  certain  circles  in  Spain,  favor  the 
following  nomenclature  :  Infinitivo,  gerundio,  parti- 
cipio  pasivo.  Modo  indicativo  —  Tiempos  simples: 
presente,  imperfecta,  preterito,  futuro,  condicional; 
Tiempos  compuestos:  perfecto,  pluscuamperfecto, 
preterito  perfecto,  futuro  perfecto,  condicional  per- 
fecto. Modo  subjuntivo  —  Tiempos  simples :  pre- 
sente, imperfecta  (dos  formas),  futuro;  Tiempos 
compuestos:  perfecto,  pluscuamperfecto  (dos  for- 
mas), futuro  perfecto.  Modo  imperativo.  Voz  ac- 
tiva  o  pasiva. 

A  Spanish  teacher  who  lost  his  voice.  A  heavy 
cold  and  then  laryngitis.  The  teacher  lost  his  voice 
for  a  week  but  decided  to  retain  charge  of  his  classes 
as  no  substitute  teacher  could  be  secured.  He  ap- 
pointed a  pupil-teacher  in  each  class.  He  wrote 
directions  on  the  blackboard.  The  usual  amount  of 
work  was  assigned  and  accomplished.  This  week 
the  students  did  all  the  talking.  The  teacher 
though  always  present  was  very  much  in  the  back- 
ground. And  yet  when  he  gave  the  usual  test  on 
the  week's  work  the  results  averaged  considerably 
higher  than  in  the  preceding  weeks !  That  teacher 
thereupon  made  a  firm  resolution  which  he  has 
kept  ever  since.  He  talks  now  very  much  less  than 
do  his  pupils.     Al  buen  entendedor,  .  .  . 

Tests.  Tests  in  language  work  should  be  fre- 
quent and  short  and,  at  least  with  younger  classes, 
should  be  based  entirely  upon  the  work  actually 


174  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

done  in  the  classroom.  We  are  all  inclined  to  make 
tests  too  long  and  too  involved.  "  Tests  for  power  " 
should  be  but  very  gradually  introduced  and  only 
in  the  highest  classes  should  they  be  an  important 
feature  of  the  testing  system.  A  written  review 
of  fifteen  to  twenty  minutes  covering  the  chief  points 
of  the  week's  work  might  be  given  each  Friday. 
Papers  should  always  be  returned  to  the  pupils  with 
corrections  carefully  noted.  The  corrected  paper 
should,  at  least  occasionally,  be  rewritten  and 
filed  with  the  teacher  or  kept  in  a  loose-leaf  notebook. 
Tests  should,  of  course,  conform  in  their  methods 
of  approach,  of  statement  or  query  to  those  used 
in  the  daily  work  of  the  class.  In  the  writer's 
opinion,  a  final  term-mark  should  be  the  composite,  in 
equal  proportions,  of  the  average  of  daily  recitation 
marks  and  the  average  of  the  weekly  or  bi-weekly 
class  tests.  Formal  half-yearly  examinations  might 
well  be  excluded  from  the  testing  system  of  the 
Junior  High  School  work  in  Spanish,  but  should 
certainly  have  a  place  in  the  four-year  High  School 
and  in  the  Senior  High  School,  where  their  chief 
value  is  that  they  compel  both  teacher  and  pupils 
to  review  the  term's  work  and  thus  effect  a  recalling, 
a  better  perspective,  and  a  better  organization  of 
the  work  accomplished.  But  the  course  in  Spanish 
in  any  type  of  high  school  should  provide  for  brief 
and  frequent  written  reviews  or  tests. 

Unexpected  translation  tests.  Some  of  us  have 
gone  to  the  extreme  of  putting  a  ban  on  all  trans- 
lation from  the  foreign  language  into  English.  Let's 
not  be  extremists  in  the  use  of  any  method.     Trans- 


A  MISCELLANY  OF  SUGGESTIONS  1 75 

lation  is  beyond  doubt  a  useful  exercise,  especially 
for  the  more  advanced  pupils.  And  much  depends, 
of  course,  upon  the  way  the  matter  is  handled.  One 
of  the  ways  of  using  translation  as  a  factor  in  the 
class  work  is  to  give  occasionally  unexpected  trans- 
lation tests  or  exercises.  A  page  or  half  page  of  the 
reading  lesson  may  be  assigned  for  written  transla- 
tion during  the  first  half  of  the  recitation.  This  is 
a  test  both  for  thoroughness  of  preparation  and  for 
thoroughness  of  comprehension  of  the  day's  reading 
text. 

A  test  for  aural  comprehension.  It  is  a  good  plan 
to  have  one  pupil  in  each  of  the  advanced  classes 
prepare  frequently  a  short  speech  in  Spanish.  This 
is  previously  reviewed  and  corrected  by  the  teacher. 
The  pupil  then  stands  before  the  class  and  in  the 
first  three  or  four  minutes  of  the  recitation  delivers 
his  little  "  speech ".  Each  member  of  the  class  is 
held  responsible  for  the  reproduction  of  one  sentence 
from  this  speech.  These  are  rapidly  reproduced 
orally,  or  some  of  the  class  write  on  the  board  the 
sentences  they  have  caught  while  the  rest  are  giving 
theirs  orally. 

Selecting  the  bright  students  for  answering. 
Spare  the  bright  students !  Don't  overwork  them, 
—  especially  when  a  visitor  comes  to  the  class.  It 
is  not  the  bright  student  who  needs  the  benefit  of 
drill,  of  reciting.  The  slow,  uncertain  ones  are 
those  who  should  receive  the  most  of  the  teacher's 
attention.  Use  the  clever  student  to  help  the  slow 
one,  in  the  recitation  and  out  of  it.  Of  course  the 
gifted  pupil  should  not  be  discouraged  by  neglect 


176  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

on  the  part  of  the  teacher,  but  he  seldom  runs  that 
risk.  The  skillful  teacher  will  know  how  to  corre- 
late the  work  of  the  brilliant  and  the  plodding  so 
as  to  give  the  proper  amount  of  help  to  each.  Here 
is  a  problem  worthy  of  the  best  thought  of  every 
modern  language  teacher. 

Teaching  objectively  the  names  of  parts  of  the 
body.  The  teacher  points  to  the  nose,  the  cheek, 
the  arm,  the  wrist,  etc.,  and  says :  la  nariz,  la 
mejilla,  el  brazo,  la  muneca,  etc.  Again  the  teacher 
points,  this  time  in  silence,  and  a  pupil  gives  the 
Spanish  for  the  part  indicated.  Then  the  class  does 
the  same  in  concert.  Then  a  boy  calls  upon  another 
boy  to  point  out  the  nose,  the  cheek,  etc.,  when 
the  first  boy  gives  the  Spanish  names.  Then  the 
class  in  unison  point  out  silently  the  parts  when 
they  are  named  in  Spanish  by  a  pupil  or  the  teacher. 
A  doll  may  be  used  in  this  work. 

New  words.  New  Spanish  words  are,  of  course, 
best  learned  in  connection  with  words  already 
known,  that  is,  as  parts  of  a  sentence  unit.  But 
to  fix  them  in  the  mind  so  that  they  may  be  recalled 
and  used  at  will,  it  is  not  sufficient  to  form  their 
acquaintance  merely  by  meeting  them  once  or  twice 
or  even  several  times  in  the  reading  lesson.  The 
more  important  words  of  the  Spanish  vocabulary 
should  be  used,  and  the  more  they  are  used  naturally 
the  better  are  they  known.  New  words  of  common 
occurrence  and  connation  may  well  be  noted  in  a  book 
kept  by  the  student.  They  should  be  used  in 
original  sentences  by  the  pupils,  either  the  day 
they  are  first  found  or  the  following  day.     Some- 


A  MISCELLANY  OF  SUGGESTIONS  1 77 

times  it  is  a  good  plan,  when  such  a  notebook  is 
kept  by  the  class,  to  review,  in  some  one  of  various 
ways,  the  new  words  learned  during  the  previous 
week. 

Maps.  We  all  know  the  desirability  of  the 
presence  and  use  in  the  classroom  of  maps  of  the 
country  whose  language  we  are  teaching.  But  it 
is  not  always  easy  to  secure  good  maps  of  those 
countries,  particularly  of  Spain  or  of  Spanish- 
American  lands.  What  may  then  be  done  for  a 
map  ?  Answer :  Have  the  pupils  draw  a  map  of 
the  foreign  land  as  a  part  of  the  work  of  the  recita- 
tion period  or  of  the  supervised  study  period.  They 
will  find  great  interest  in  doing  this ;  they  will  learn 
a  very  great  deal  about  the  geography  of  the  coun- 
try and  the  spelling  of  the  Spanish  names.  Some 
really  excellent  maps  will  also  result  for  the  use  of 
future  classes. 

Heading  for  written  work.  When  a  pupil  is  sent 
to  the  blackboard  to  write  a  piece  of  work  or  when 
he  prepares  written  home  work,  is  it  not  a  good 
plan  to  have  him  place  above  his  exercise  a  heading 
in  Spanish  ?  This  should  consist  of  something  like 
the  following : 

Yo  me  llamo  Pedro  Smith. 

A  quince  de  diciembre  de  mil  novecientos 
diez  y  siete. 
Clase  de  espafiol  numero  213. 

This  scheme  provides  drill  in  writing  dates  correctly, 
makes  for  uniformity  and  neatness  in  written  work, 
and  incidentally  automatizes  "  Yo  me  llamo  "  and 


178  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

the  given  name  in  Spanish,  if  the  name  has  a  Spanish 
equivalent. 

Phonograph  records  in  teaching  Spanish.  A  few 
language  schools  have  prepared  records  in  the  Spanish 
language  *  to  be  used  in  correspondence  courses  or 
as  accessory  aids  in  class  work.  These  records  are 
usually  very  distinct  and  correct.  They  are  par- 
ticularly helpful  to  the  teacher  who  lacks  the  op- 
portunity of  associating  with  Spaniards  and  yet 
desires  to  perfect  his  pronunciation  of  Spanish. 
Such  records  may  also  be  used  with  profit  in  a  be- 
ginning class.  The  children  follow  with  great 
interest  the  words  of  the  record  and  find  pleasure 
in  understanding  or  trying  to  understand  them. 
It  is  not  advisable,  however,  to  write  the  words  on 
the  board.  Let  the  pupils  get  them  "by  ear". 
Have  them  repeat  the  words,  imitating  as  closely 
as  possible  the  pronunciation  and  the  intonation 
given  by  the  speaker  whose  voice  is  reproduced  by 
the  phonograph.  While  they  cannot  talk  back  " 
to  the  machine,  they  will  hear  very  correct  Spanish 
which  they  will  imitate  with  profit. 

Pupils  describe  the  teacher's  actions.  An  inter- 
esting and  practical  sort  of  exercise  consists  in  having 
a  pupil  tell  in  Spanish  what  the  teacher  is  doing, 
thus  :  Vd.  entra  en  la  sala.  Vd.  se  acerca  a  la  silla 
y  se  sienta.  Ahora  Vd.  escribe  en  la  pizarra  la 
fecha  y  ahora  se  vuelve  a  sentar,  and  so  on.  Or 
the  entire  class  may  write  such  a  description  as  a 
part  of  their  composition  exercise.  The  teacher 
should  then,  of  course,  move  about  slowly.     This 

1  See  Chapter  XVII  for  suggestions  concerning  these  records. 


A  MISCELLANY  OF  SUGGESTIONS  179 

scheme  will  be  particularly  effective  in  a  class 
brought  up  on  the  series  units  described  for  use  in 
the  early  terms  of  the  Junior  High  School. 

Sketching.  Fortunate  is  the  Spanish  teacher 
who  is  apt  in  making  rapidly  on  the  board  good 
sketches  of  the  object  or  situation  that  is  being 
discussed  in  Spanish.  These  sketches  provide  an 
effective  method  of  direct  appeal  and  of  forcible, 
unmistakable  illustration.  Often,  in  teaching  pro- 
nunciation, a  rapidly  made  drawing  of  the  position 
of  the  speech  organs  in  forming  certain  sounds  —  as, 
for  instance,  intervocalic  d  —  will  be  very  helpful. 

Terminology.  If  the  books  you  use  are  lacking 
in  the  terminology  necessary  for  any  of  the  practical 
uses  you  would  like  to  make  of  Spanish  in  the  class- 
room (grammatical  terms,  commands,  etc.),  why 
not,  especially  if  you  are  in  charge  of  a  department 
of  Spanish,  or  of  modern  languages,  work  out  care- 
fully such  a  body  of  terminology  in  Spanish  and 
hand  copies  of  it  to  other  teachers  ?  There  should 
be  uniformity  in  a  department  in  this  matter  of 
stock  expressions  used. 

Spanish  plays.  Plays  in  Spanish,  when  given 
occasionally  in  public,  are  good  practice  for  a  few 
students,  and  they  awaken  much  interest  in  the 
entire  body  of  students  of  the  language.  But  are 
they  the  best  way  to  interest  pupils  in  this  valuable 
kind  of  language  activity  ?  Does  a  play  thus  given 
afford  experience  to  a  sufficiently  large  group  of 
students  and  in  a  degree  commensurate  with  the 
great  labor  required,  usually  of  one  or  two  teachers  ? 
Would  not  brief  plays  prepared  by  each  class  and 


180  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

given  as  a  part  of  the  classroom  work  be  of  more 
real  benefit  to  all?1  Even  beginning  classes  can 
dramatize,  with  the  teacher's  help,  short  stories 
or  anecdotes  of  the  reader  and  will  show  intense 
interest  in  this  kind  of  applied  dramatics.  In  upper 
classes,  pupils  will  enjoy  "  putting  on "  before  the 
others  sections  of  the  play  they  may  be  reading.  Or 
brief  original  plays  or  sketches,  based  on  some  in- 
cident of  the  classroom  or  school  life,  may  be  com- 
posed and  presented  by  a  committee  elected  by  the 
class  or  appointed  by  the  teacher. 

Reproduction,  written  and  oral.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  we  do  enough  reproduction  of  material 
studied.  And  yet  this  kind  of  activity  has  very 
great  value.  A  short  anecdote  may  be  read  or, 
preferably,  related,  in  Spanish  by  the  teacher,  who 
speaks  only  at  moderate  speed  and  with  very  clear 
enunciation.  He  uses  very  simple  language.  The 
students  hear  the  story  but  once  and  are  not  per- 
mitted to  make  any  notes.  They  then  write  it, 
being  given  a  certain  number  of  minutes  in  which 
to  do  so.  Or  one  student  is  sent  to  the  board  at  the 
rear  of  the  room  to  write  out  the  story  while  others 
give  it  orally.  Or  the  story  is  reproduced  orally 
by  two  or  three  members  of  the  class.  Or,  in  the 
beginning  stage  of  the  work,  the  story  may  be  re- 

1  The  situation  is  similar  to  that  which  exists  in  college 
athletics,  in  which  the  aim  has  been  to  produce  "  star  "  players 
for  a  "  star  "  team  in  football  or  baseball,  while  the  vast  majority 
of  the  students  devote  only  a  couple  of  hours  a  week  to  physical 
training.  It  is  noteworthy  that  some  universities  now  require 
the  participation  of  all  students  in  a  major  or  minor  sport  and 
have  arranged  for  inter-class  and  inter-squad  competitions. 


A  MISCELLANY  OF  SUGGESTIONS  181 

produced  in  English.  These  anecdotes  or  stories 
should  be  called  for  again  a  day  or  so  later. 

Pupils  record  their  ratings  themselves.  Suppose 
rapid  oral  drill  of  some  kind  is  being  given.  Each 
pupil  writes  his  name  on  a  slip  of  paper.  When  he 
recites  the  teacher  gives  him  a  rating  on  the  basis 
say  of  10  and  the  pupil  writes  this  mark,  "  seis  ", 
"  ocho  ",  etc.,  on  his  slip.  Working  fast,  the  teacher 
gets  through  the  class  several  times.  Then  the 
pupils  average  their  marks  and  hand  their  slips  to 
a  monitor  who  collects  them.  This  little  scheme 
creates  interest  when  used  occasionally  and  gives 
the  teacher  a  basis  for  the  daily  mark,  should  he 
wish  to  give  one.  Seldom  will  a  pupil  be  found  dis- 
honest in  recording  his  ratings  when  he  is  thus  put 
upon  his  honor. 

Use  of  written  questions.  In  higher  classes 
questions  in  Spanish  to  be  answered  in  Spanish 
at  the  next  recitation  may  be  dictated  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  period.  These  are  based  on  the  reading 
of  the  next  day.  The  plot  and  the  characters  may 
be  discussed  in  this  way.  At  the  next  session  of  the 
class  a  few  pupils  go  to  the  board  to  write  their 
answers,  while  others  give  theirs  orally. 

The  use  of  cards  in  assigning  board  work.  This 
is  a  device  rather  widely  used  and,  if  not  overworked, 
is  highly  commendable.  Its  chief  virtue  consists 
in  that  it  is  a  time  saver.  It  needs  but  the  briefest, 
if  any,  description.  The  teacher  prepares,  pref- 
erably on  library  cards,  sets  of  exercises  of  various 
kinds  to  go  with  each  grammar  lesson  or  to  review 
points  of  the  reading  work  or  the  composition  lesson. 


182  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

The  class  appears.  The  teacher,  without  a  waste 
of  words  or  time,  hands  out  these  cards  to  selected 
individuals,  who  at  once  step  to  the  board,  do  the 
work  indicated  on  the  card,  leave  the  cards  near 
the  work,  and  take  seats.  Meanwhile  the  teacher 
has  gone  ahead  with  other  work  with  the  remainder 
of  the  class  at  their  seats.  At  a  proper  time  the 
board  work  is  examined.  This  makes  for  a  great 
saving  of  time,  while  also  making  it  possible  for  a 
teacher  to  shape  the  text  to  the  needs  of  the  class. 
Incidentally,  it  provides  a  very  good  way  to  do  re- 
view work,  as  the  cards  are  kept  and  filed  and  are 
ready  for  service  whenever  the  teacher  desires.  Old 
or  discarded  textbooks  may  be  cut  up  and  portions 
pasted  on  cards,  thus  saving  the  work  of  writing  out 
the  material. 

To  drill  on  ordinal  numerals.  The  teacher  says, 
Yo  soy  el  primero.  <:Quien  es  Vd.?  The  pupil 
called  upon  says,  Yo  soy  el  segundo.  <;Quien  es 
Vd.  ?,  pointing  out  another  member  of  the  class. 
And  so  on.  Care  must  be  taken  to  have  the  girls 
give  the  feminine  forms  of  the  article  and  ordinal 
in  replying.  This  little  game  is  interesting  and 
helpful  in  acquirement  of  ready  and  correct  use  of 
the  ordinals. 

Standards  and  measurements.  Did  you  ever 
attempt  to  work  out  for  the  various  terms  of  your 
Spanish  classes,  beginning  with  the  first,  a  set  of 
definite  things  that  should  be  expected  of  a  student 
upon  the  completion  of  each  term  of  work  ?  It  is 
not  an  easy  thing  to  do  in  language  work,  but  it  is 
worth  while.     Then,  upon  the  material  decided  upon 


A  MISCELLANY  OF  SUGGESTIONS  183 

as  the  standard,  your  examinations  for  promotion, 
that  is,  your  measurements,  are  set.  Our  work  in 
modern  languages  is  indefinite  as  compared  with 
that  which  may  be  outlined  in,  say,  mathematics, 
but  certain  fundamentals  do  exist  and  upon  them 
definite  standards  can  and  should  be  reared. 

Correlation  of  departments.  Have  you  ever  done 
anything  to  correlate  the  Spanish  course  with  that 
of  other  departments  ?  Have  you  ever  held  joint 
conferences  with  the  English,  History,  French, 
Latin,  or  Commercial  teachers  ?  Can  you  not  per- 
suade the  History  department  of  your  school  to 
devote,  in  connection  with  the  course  in  American 
History,  some  three  or  four  weeks  to  the  study  of 
Hispanic  America  ?  (That  is,  if  you  are  not  so 
fortunate  as  to  have  already  established  a  year's 
course  in  South  American  history.)  Are  there  not 
definite  ways  in  which  you  may  aid  the  teaching  of 
English  in  your  school  ?  Will  not  the  English  de- 
partment be  willing  to  assign  to  the  students  of 
Spanish  theme  topics  based  upon  the  history  of 
Spain,  our  commerce  with  Argentina,  or  the  peoples 
of  Bolivia  ?  Possibly  you  can  work  out  a  course 
in  Spanish  stenography  to  be  given  jointly,  if  neces- 
sary, by  teachers  of  Spanish  and  teachers  of  stenog- 
raphy. Possibly  the  Latin,  French,  and  Spanish 
teachers  could  profitably  consider  together  the 
teaching  of  verbs  or  how  best  to  aid  the  student  who 
is  studying  two  of  the  three  languages  mentioned. 
These  are  the  days  of  "  team  work  ",  of  correlated, 
united  effort.  Pedagogues,  no  less  than  men  of 
affairs,  should  practice  cooperation. 


184  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

Specific  directions  for  study.  It  is  a  great  help 
to  put  into  the  hands  of  the  students  of  Spanish 
specific  directions  as  to  how  to  prepare  the  different 
types  of  work.  This  is  particularly  advisable  in  a 
school  in  which  no  provision  is  made  for  supervised 
study ;  but  in  any  school  a  printed  slip  giving  sug- 
gestions as  to  methods  of  attack  in  preparing  Spanish 
lessons  and  pasted  on  the  inside  cover  of  the  Spanish 
grammar,  for  example,  will  be  most  useful.  The 
following  may  be  considered  a  fairly  good  example 
of  a  slip  used  for  this  purpose.1 


HOW  TO  STUDY  SPANISH 

A.  Vocabulary.  With  careful  pronunciation  read 
aloud  the  Spanish  words  and  their  English  meanings. 
Try  to  fix  the  word  in  your  mind  if  possible  by  a  similar 
word  in  English  or  other  language  you  may  have 
studied.  Cover  the  English  words  and  write  on  a 
narrow  slip  of  paper  the  English  for  as  many  of  the 
Spanish  words  as  you  can  recall.  Then  check  up  your 
work  from  the  book,  filling  in  any  blanks.  On  the 
other  side  of  the  slip  write  from  memory  the  Spanish 
equivalents,  checking  up  as  before.  Close  the  book. 
Hold  the  slip  in  your  hand.  Looking  at  the  Spanish 
side  say  the  English  meanings.  A  turn  of  the  wrist 
will  give  you  any  word  you  do  not  recall.  Continue 
until  it  is  unnecessary  to  turn  the  slip.  Then  take 
the  English  side  and  proceed  in  the  same  way  until 

1  Used  in  the  Department  of  Spanish  of  DeWitt  Clinton  High 
School,  New  York  City. 


A  MISCELLANY  OF  SUGGESTIONS  185 

you  can  give  the  Spanish  for  each  English  word  with- 
out having  to  turn  the  paper.  Practice  putting  into 
short  sentences  the  words  you  have  now  mastered. 

B.  Grammar.  Read  carefully  any  explanation  of 
a  point  in  grammar.  Try  to  understand  it  clearly. 
Do  not  memorize  the  rule.  You  should  memorize 
one  or  more  examples  given.  In  other  words,  remem- 
ber the  rule  by  the  example.  In  learning  conjugations 
of  verbs,  first  read  them  aloud,  thinking  their  English 
equivalents.  Write  them  out,  referring  to  the  book  if 
necessary.  Say  them  aloud  and  write  them  until  the 
book  is  useless.  Practice  putting  these  verb  forms  into 
sentences  that  you  yourself  make  up. 

C.  Reading.  1.  Read  aloud  the  Spanish  para- 
graph, trying  to  understand  it  as  you  would  English 
(without  translating). 

2.  Go  back  over  the  paragraph  and  try  to  get  the 
meaning  of  an  unknown  word  or  phrase  from  the 
general  idea  of  the  sentences  —  just  as  you  would  in 
reading  English.  Consult  vocabulary  only  as  a  last 
resort. 

3.  Should  you  at  times  be  given  a  passage  to  trans- 
late, make 'your  translation  into  absolutely  clear,  idio- 
matic English.  Do  not  translate  word  for  word. 
Seek  out  the  thought  of  the  Spanish  sentence;  then 
express  that  thought  in  English  words  that  are  well 
chosen  and  in  sentences  that  are  correctly  con- 
structed. 

4.  The  final  test  of  your  knowledge  of  a  reading 
lesson  will  be  your  ability  to  talk  and  write  about  it  in 
Spanish,  to  answer  in  Spanish  questions  put  in  Spanish 
about  what  you  have  read  or  to  give  a  summary  in 
Spanish  of  a  paragraph  or  page.  Therefore  practice 
telling  the  story  to  yourself. 

D.  Drill.     Continually      practice       speaking      and 


l86  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

thinking  in  Spanish.  Drill  yourself  more  than  the 
teacher  can  drill  you.  By  long  hours  of  patient  prac- 
tice the  musician  trains  his  fingers  and  the  athlete 
trains  his  muscles.  There  is  no  royal  road  to  mastery 
of  Spanish.  You  will  need  the  same  faithful  practice 
as  the  musician  or  the  athlete.  Train  your  ear  to 
hear  Spanish,  your  tongue  to  speak  it,  your  eye  to  read 
it,  your  mind  to  think  it.  Hold  conversations  with 
yourself  about  matters  of  daily  interest;  say  in  Spanish 
the  numbers  you  see  here  and  there;  the  date  of  the 
newspaper,  the  time  of  day.  Imagine  yourself  in  a 
Spanish  country  and  think  out  expressions  you  would 
have  to  use  at  home  and  at  school.  Do  this  day  after 
day.    Drill  yourself  constantly. 

Physical  training  exercises  in  Spanish.  In  many 
schools  setting-up  exercises  are  given  in  the  class 
rooms  at  intervals  during  the  day.  On  the  principle 
that  Spanish  should  be  used  as  much  as  possible  in 
the  class  room  and  to  add  interest  to  the  occasion, 
the  commands  for  these  exercises  may  be  given  in 
Spanish.  Here  is  a  good  opportunity  to  train  in 
instantaneous  muscular  reactions  in  response  to 
stimuli  expressed  in  Spanish.  The  teacher  may  give 
these  commands  or  appoint  a  member  of  the  class 
to  give  them.  The  following  set  of  expressions1 
will,  it  is  believed,  be  found  useful  and  easily  adapted 
to  the  needs  of  various  schools.  The  counting  that 
may  be  necessary  for  the  proper  performance  of  some 
of  these  exercises  should,  of  course,  be  done  in 
Spanish. 

1  Suggested  by  Dr.  Guillermo  A.  Sherwell,  New  Utrecht  High 
School,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


A  MISCELLANY  OF  SUGGESTIONS 


187 


Voz  preventiva 
jAtencion! 


Voz  ejecutiva 

jEn  pie! 

jFirmes!      (jCuerpo 
derecho!  jVistaal 
f rente!     jBarba 
recogida!) 

jlnspirar! 

jExpirar! 

jDerecha! 

jlzquierda! 

jDerecha! 

jMarchen! 

j  Position! 

jMarchen! 

jMarchen! 

jMarchen! 
jPosici6n! 

jMarchen! 
jlnspirar! 
jExpirar! 
jSentados! 

Parliamentary  expressions.  In  a  class  organized 
and  conducted  according  to  parliamentary  rules  or  in 
the  Spanish  club  of  the  school,  the  following  outlines 
of  procedure l  may  be  found  suggestive  or  helpful. 

1  Prepared  by  Dr.  Guillermo  A.  Sherwell,  New  Utrecht  High 
School,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


jFlanco  derecho! 
jFlanco  izquierdo! 
j  Media  vuelta! 
jTomar  sus  distancias! 
jManos  en  las  caderas! 
jFlexion  sobre  las  rodillas  en 

ocho  tiempos ! 
i Flexion  sobre  la  cintura  hacia 

adelante  en  ocho  tiempos! 
jLevantarse  sobre  las  puntas 

de  los  pies  en  ocho  tiempos! 
jManos  sobre  los  hombros! 
jLevantar  las  manos  sobre  la 

cabeza  en  ocho  tiempos! 


M 


SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 


El  presidente :  —  Se  abre  la  sesion. 

—  El  secretario  dara  lectura  al 
acta  de  la  sesion  anterior. 

—  <?Hay  alguna  observation  que 
hacer  al  acta? 

—  <;  No  hay  quien  pida  la  pala- 
bra? 

—  Los  que  aprueben  el  acta  se 
servirdn  indicarlo  levantando 
la  mano  derecha. 

—  Los  de  opinion  contraria  se 
serviran  indicarlo  de  la  misma 
manera. 

—  El  acta  esta  aprobada  por 
mayoria  (o  unanimidad)  de 
votos. 

Un  socio :  —  Pido  la  palabra. 

El  presidente :  —  Tiene   la   palabra   el   senor 

Mathews. 

—  Propongo  que  .  .  . 

—  Secundo  la  motion. 

—  Est&  a  discusion  la  moci6n 
del  senor  Mathews.  <?Se 
considera  suflcientemente 
discutida  la  moci6n? 

—  Propongo  que  se  cierre  la 
discusi6n. 

—  Se  va  a  tomar  la  votaci6n 
econ6mica  (o  por  cedulas). 

—  El  secretario  dara  cuenta  de 
una  carta  (o  comunicaci6n) 
que  se  ha  recibido. 


El  socio  Mathews 
Otro  socio : 
El  presidente  : 


Otro  socio: 
El  presidente 


A  MISCELLANY  OF  SUGGESTIONS  189 

—  ^Alguno  de  los  miembros 
(o  socios)  desea  presentar 
alguna  proposici6n  a  este  re- 
specto  ? 

Un  socio :  —  Propongo  que  se  levante  la 

sesi6n. 

El  presidente :  —  Se  levanta  la  sesi6n. 

Acta. 

En  la  Escuela  Superior  de  New  Utrecht,  de  la 
ciudad  de  Nueva  York,  reunidos  los  socios  del 
circulo  espaiiol  "Ruben  Dario,,)  a  las  tres  de  la 
tarde  del  dia  25  de  septiembre  de  1917,  con  el 
objeto  de  celebrar  su  reunion  ordinaria,  el  presidente 
declar6  abierta  la  sesi6n,  a  continuation  de  lo  cual 
el  secretario  dio  lectura  al  acta  de  la  sesion  anterior, 
la  cual  despues  de  discutida  (0  sin  discusi6n)  fue 
aprobada.     Enseguida.  .  .  . 

No  habiendo  otro  asunto  de  que  tratar,  a  las 
cuatro  y  media  de  la  tarde  el  presidente  declaro 
levantada  la  sesion,  de  la  cual  se  extiende  la  presente 
acta  para  constancia. 

(Fecha)  (Firma  del  secretario) 


CHAPTER   XIII 

CLUB   WORK   IN   THE   DEPARTMENT   OF   SPANISH 

A  language  department  that  limited  its  activities 
by  the  signal  bells  for  the  opening  and  closing  of  the 
school  day  would  be  comparable  to  a  church  body 
that  confined  its  duties  to  attendance  upon  Sunday 
preaching  services.  Both  organizations  would  be 
unaware  or  neglectful  of  one  of  the  most  useful 
services  that  can  be  rendered  society,  namely,  the 
organization  and  direction  of  the  energies  of  the 
young  people  within  their  sphere  of  influence  in 
channels  that  are  both  profitable  and  pleasant. 

The  classroom  work  in  Spanish  is  supplemented, 
vitalized,  and  made  of  greater  value  by  the  existence 
in  the  school  of  a  live  Spanish  club,  a  "Circulo 
Castellano  "  or  a  "  Club  Espanol",  that  holds  weekly 
meetings  after  the  close  of  the  classes  for  the  day. 
The  chief  object  of  this  club  is  to  provide  for  its 
members  practice  in  using  Spanish  under  more 
natural  and  unrestrained  conditions  than  those 
that  are  found  in  the  ordinary  class  meetings.  Stu- 
dent officers  conduct  the  meetings  of  the  club.  A 
teacher  of  Spanish  will,  of  course,  attend  the  club 
as  the  inconspicuous  faculty  adviser  and  member 
thereof,  but  he  will  be  active  chiefly  in  suggesting 
how  the  members  may  use  their  meetings  for  their 

190 


CLUB  WORK  IN  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  SPANISH    191 

own  greatest  advantage  and  pleasure.  A  constitu- 
tion will  be  adopted  and  dues  collected  say  of  fifty 
cents  a  year.  Parliamentary  procedure,  in  Spanish, 
will  be  the  form  in  which  the  meetings  are  usually 
conducted.  Sessions  should  be  held  in  the  milieu 
provided  by  a  well-decorated  Spanish  classroom  or, 
on  more  formal  occasions,  in  the  music  room  or 
auditorium. 

The  roll  and  minutes  should  be  kept  in  Spanish. 
Only  Spanish  should  be  spoken.  After  a  brief 
business  meeting  (if  necessary),  a  prepared  program, 
made  up  by  a  program  committee,  follows.  This 
should  usually  be  given  by  the  student  members, 
though  an  occasional  talk  by  a  teacher  of  the  depart- 
ment will  make  an  interesting  variation  of  program. 
Declamations,  original  articles,  informal  playlets, 
readings  from  Spanish  magazines,  short  lectures  by 
student  members  on  topics  connected  with  the  life 
of  Spanish  lands  (illustrated,  possibly,  by  stereopti- 
con  or  stereoscope  views),  and  short  debates  may 
form  the  major  part  of  the  program,  and  these 
numbers  may  be  interspersed  with  Spanish  songs  * 
sung  by  the  members  to  the  accompaniment,  if 
possible,  of  the  piano.  Or  if  a  phonograph  is 
available  there  are  many  records  of  Spanish  songs 
that  can  be  played.  Sometimes  the  members  will 
be  able  with  the  help  of  the  phonograph  to  learn  to 
sing  the  songs  that  are  found  on  these  records, 
especially  if  the  words  are  written  on  the  board  or 
mimeographed  and  distributed.  Part  of  the  dues 
of  the  club  may  be  expended  for  song  books  and 

1  See  Chapter  XVII  for  suggestions  as  to  songs. 


192  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

phonograph  records.  At  times  it  may  be  desirable 
and  possible  to  secure  a  Spanish-speaking  person  to 
come  and  address  the  club  on  a  topic  of  interest  to 
young  folks.  Such  a  person  should  be  tactfully 
urged  to  speak  slowly  and  distinctly.  Or  it  may 
even  be  possible  to  find  a  Spanish  singer  who  will 
contribute  to  the  pleasure  of  the  afternoon.  Spanish 
people  are  most  generous  of  their  time  and  sympathy, 
especially  where  young  people  who  are  learning 
Spanish  are  concerned.  With  the  help  of  the 
department  of  physical  training  it  may  be  possible 
to  have  some  of  the  students  give  Spanish  dances. 
Or  the  music  department  may  occasionally  con- 
tribute some  Spanish  music. 

After  the  more  formal  part  of  the  meeting  may 
come  the  playing  of  games.  Most  of  the  North 
American  parlor  games  can  be  used  in  Spanish 
versions,  as,  for  example,  "  Bird,  beast,  or  fish". 
Guessing  games,  forfeits,  piecemeal  story  telling, 
riddles,  the  game  of  proverbs,  and  so  forth  may  be 
adapted  in  Spanish.  Some  of  the  devices  mentioned 
in  Chapter  XII  may  be  used  as  club  games,  as,  for 
instance,  At  the  window  and  others. 

When  such  a  club  becomes  well  established  it 
may  try  more  ambitious  things,  such  as  the  produc- 
tion of  a  Spanish  play  annually  or  semi-annually;1 
the  holding  of  formal  declamation  contests  in 
Spanish,  of  translation  contests  or,  in  large  cities,  of 
interschool  debates  in  that  language.  The  exchange 
of  visits  between  Spanish  clubs  of  different  schools 
always  provides  much  interest  and  enthusiasm. 

1  See  Chapter  XVII  for  a  list  of  plays  available. 


CLUB  WORK  IN  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  SPANISH    193 

In  a  large  school  the  Spanish  club  may  issue  a  little 
monthly  paper  in  Spanish.  Several  schools  in  New 
York  City  have  Spanish  papers  conducted  by  their 
Spanish  clubs  under  the  general  guidance  of  a 
teacher.1  Short  articles,  quotations,  jokes,  current 
events,  poems  clipped  from  various  sources,  are 
contributed  by  the  pupils.  The  expense  involved 
may  be  covered  by  a  charge  of  a  few  cents  a  copy. 
It  will  also  be  possible,  especially  in  large  cities,  to 
secure  small  paid  advertisements  from  merchants 
and  others  in  the  vicinity  of  the  school.  These 
advertisements,  written,  of  course,  in  Spanish,  will 
very  appreciably  lower  the  cost  of  publication  while 
adding  at  the  same  time  to  the  interest  of  the  paper. 

Another  line  of  activity  open  to  a  good  Spanish 
club  is  the  establishment  of  an  exchange  of  corre- 
spondence with  the  pupils  of  some  Spanish  country. 
Many  of  the  ambassadors,  ministers,  and  consuls  of 
Spanish-speaking  lands  will  be  glad  to  forward  to 
some  school  or  schools  of  their  countries  a  set  of 
letters  in  Spanish  written  by  students  in  the  schools 
of  the  United  States,  thus  setting  in  motion  a  regular 
exchange  of  letters  between  pairs  of  students  —  the 
Spanish-speaking  students  writing  in  English  and 
the  North  American  students  writing  in  Spanish.2 

1  El  Eco  de  las  Espanolitas,  Julia  Richman  High  School; 
La  Foz,  Bay  Ridge  High  School ;  Verde  y  Blanco,  New  Utrecht 
High  School;  El  Estudiante  Comercial,  High  School  of  Commerce. 

2  For  instance,  His  Excellency,  the  Argentine  Ambassador, 
Sr.  Romulo  S.  Naon,  has  very  kindly  offered  to  forward  to 
Argentine  schools  letters  written  by  students  in  the  schools  of 
the  United  States  for  the  purpose  of  starting  an  interchange  of 
correspondence.     The    U.    S.    Commercial    Attache    at    Lima, 


194  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

Each  will  correct  the  other's  letters  and  return  them. 
These  exchanges  will  be  made  more  regular  and  more 
interesting  if  schools  in  the  two  countries  are  paired 
off  and  if  the  exchange  is  effected  each  time  through 
the  consul  or  diplomatic  agent. 

But  the  language  club  should  not  be  the  only 
organized  club  connected  with  the  Spanish  depart- 
ment. There  are  at  least  two  other  clubs  that  could 
be  established  with  profit,  at  least  in  a  large  school, 
—  the  Hispanic  America  club  and  the  Spanish 
stenography  club. 

The  Hispanic  America  club,  conducted  preferably 
in  English,  should  concern  itself  with  the  history, 
geography,  institutions,  customs,  industries,  and 
products  of  South  and  Central  America  —  subjects 
of  much  interest  and  practical  value.  Formal 
organization  and  parliamentary  procedure  are  desir- 
able. One  country  at  a  time  should  be  studied 
intensively  under  the  headings  above  mentioned.  If 
the  history  of,  say,  Brazil  is  the  topic,  one  member 
prepares  a  short  resume  of  the  period  of  discovery, 
another  of  the  colonial  period,  and  so  forth.  Ency- 
clopedias, maps,  books  of  travel  and  history  (obtain- 
able in  the  school  library,  which  should  be  well 
equipped  for  such  purposes),  and  magazine  articles 
all  may  be  used  as  sources  of  information.  Stereop- 
ticon  lectures  will  be  most  helpful,  especially  when 
given  by  the  teacher  or  by  the  older  or  abler  students. 

Peru,  Mr.  Wm.  F.  Montavon,  will  also  gladly  forward  to  the 
proper  Peruvian  school  letters  from  our  students.  Care  should 
be  taken  to  see  that  all  letters  sent  to  such  officials  bear  the 

correct  amount  of  postage. 


CLUB  WORK  IN  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  SPANISH     195 

The  Bulletin  of  the  Pan  American  Union  will  be 
found  unusually  suggestive  and  serviceable  in  prepar- 
ing for  the  meetings  of  this  club.  The  faculty  adviser 
may,  in  larger  cities,  be  able  to  secure  the  co- 
operation of  business  men  connected  with  the  South 
American  trade,  and  may  obtain  the  services  of  a 
few  of  them  for  talks  on  experiences  in  the  southern 
continent  or  about  the  practical  side  of  our  relations 
with  Hispanic  America.  Samples  of  the  raw  prod- 
ucts of  the  different  South  American  countries 
may  be  secured  through  importing  houses.  Peru- 
vian bark,  Paraguayan  tea,  Brazilian  coffee,  crude 
rubber,  ivory  nuts,  sisal  hemp,  and  Chilean  salt- 
peter are  a  few  of  the  products  of  which  it  is  not 
difficult  to  obtain  samples  from  houses  dealing  in 
such  articles.  A  set  of  small  flags  of  the  twenty 
republics  south  of  us  may  be  bought  or  made  and 
used  to  decorate  the  meeting  room  of  the  club. 

The  Spanish  stenography  club.  Usually  the  North 
American  exporter  or  importer  has  not  sufficient 
command  of  Spanish  to  be  able  to  dictate  in  Spanish 
letters  to  his  Spanish-American  clients.  The  Span- 
ish correspondent  of  the  house  usually  informs  his 
principal  of  the  contents  of  the  Spanish  letters  re- 
ceived and  the  latter  dictates  in  English  his  replies 
or  indicates  briefly  the  general  nature  of  the  answer 
to  be  made.  Thereupon  the  correspondent  either 
translates  into  Spanish  the  English  of  his  notes  or 
simply  frames  a  Spanish  letter  expressing  the  sub- 
stance of  his  principal's  reply. 

Hence  it  will  be  seen  that  only  in  the  very  largest 
cities,  where  exist  a  good  many  nouses  conducted  by 


196  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

a  Spanish-speaking  personnel,  will  there  be  a  demand 
for  stenographers  able  to  take  notes  in  Spanish. 
This  work  is  sometimes  done  by  young  Central  or 
South  Americans,  but  often,  as  has  been  stated  by 
Spanish-American  firms,  these  persons  render  un- 
satisfactory service  because  of  carelessness  or  lack 
of  training  or  lack  of  knowledge  of  North  American 
business  customs.  So,  though  the  demand  for 
Spanish  stenographers  trained  in  this  country  is 
limited,  nevertheless  such  a  demand  does  exist. 

However,  probably  in  few  schools  outside  of  the 
largest  cities  will  it  be  found  practicable  to  in- 
stitute regular  courses  in  Spanish  stenography.  But 
to  aid  those  who  may  wish  to  take  up  this  work  a 
club  may  be  established.  It  will,  of  course,  be  less 
formal  in  its  organization  than,  say,  the  Spanish 
language  club.  The  members  should  have  had  at 
least  two  years  of  Spanish,  and  a  knowledge  of  the 
elements  of  English  stenography  will  be  most  helpful. 
The  greatest  difficulty  will  be  to  find  an  instructor 
knowing  the  subject.  The  usual  source  of  supply 
will  be  the  faculty  of  the  Spanish  department,  some 
one  of  whom  may  know  somewhat  of  English  sten- 
ography.1 Or  a  teacher  from  the  department  of 
English  stenography  in  the  school  may  be  found 
who  knows  some  Spanish.  Or  two  teachers,  one 
from  each  of  the  two  departments,  may  work  to- 
gether in  conducting  the  club.  In  any  case  the 
teacher  and  the  student  members  can  work  out  with 
very  good  success  the  principles  and  problems  of 

1  Pitman's  Taquigrajia  Espanolay  and  Clave  for  the  same,  will 
be  found  most  helpful. 


CLUB  WORK  IN  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  SPANISH    197 

stenography  in  Spanish.     Time  and  faithful  practice 
will  do  the  rest. 

In  all  the  kinds  of  club  work  mentioned  the  experi- 
ence and  observation  of  the  writer  have  led  him  to 
believe  that  no  trace  of  classroom  procedure  or  atti- 
tude should  characterize  the  teacher's  participation. 
Nothing  smacking  of  formal  study  should  be  imposed 
by  the  faculty  adviser  upon  the  club  members.  He 
should  be  present  as  a  member,  older  friend,  and 
adviser.  He  should  remember  that  it  is  a  question 
of  a  club  managed  by  students.  Attempts  on  his 
part  to  dictate  will  usually  kill  interest  at  once.  Here 
is  his  chance,  by  the  use  of  tact,  sympathy,  and  good 
fellowship,  to  make  the  Spanish  language,  Spanish 
culture,  and  knowledge  of  Spanish  nations  of  the 
greatest  benefit  to  the  young  folks  with  whom  he  is 
associated. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE  MODERN  LANGUAGE  TEACHER  OF  SUPERIOR 
MERIT  i 

As  the  one  in  charge  of  modern  language  teaching 
in  the  city  high  schools,  it  may  not  be  out  of  place 
for  me  to  indicate  here  what  may  in  reason  be 
expected  of  the  teacher  of  languages  who  at  the  end 
of  his  ninth   (or  twelfth)   year  of  service  becomes 

1  An  editorial  by  the  author  in  the  Bulletin  of  High  Points  in 
the  Teaching  of  Modern  Languages  in  the  High  Schools  of 
New  York  City,  June,  191 7.  With  a  few  changes  it  is  included 
here  at  the  suggestion  of  teachers  who  considered  it  helpful. 
It  is  realized  that  in  some  parts  it  is  a  repetition  of  ideas  ex- 
pressed in  foregoing  passages  of  this  book. 

In  New  York  City  a  high  school  teacher  must  be  approved  as 
"  fit  and  meritorious  *  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  year  of  the  salary 
schedule  and  as  a  "  teacher  of  superior  merit  "  at  the  end  of  the 
ninth  and  twelfth  years.  At  the  last  two  points  mentioned, 
failure  of  approval  (by  (1)  the  Associate  Superintendent  in 
charge  of  high  schools,  (2)  the  District  Superintendent  as- 
signed to  high  schools,  (3)  the  Principal  of  the  school,  and 
(4)  the  four  members  of  the  Board  of  Examiners)  prevents 
progress  in  the  salary  schedule  beyond  #2050  and  #2500  per 
annum  respectively,  the  maximum  salary  for  the  thirteenth 
year  and  thereafter  being  #2650.  Approval  is  given  or  with- 
held, first,  by  a  committee  consisting  of  (1),  (2),  and  (3)  men- 
tioned above,  and  second,  by  a  committee  consisting  of  (2),  (3), 
and  (4). 

198 


THE  MODERN  LANGUAGE  TEACHER  199 

automatically  a  candidate  for  an  award  of  a  declara- 
tion of  superior  merit  in  conformity  with  the  present 
law.  I  know  I  am  touching  a  delicate  subject,  but 
it  seems  to  me  that  whether  we  question  or  not  the 
merits  of  the  present  law  or  the  administration  of  it, 
we  all  readily  admit  that  there  should  be  a  point  or 
points  somewhere  in  a  teacher's  career  where  his 
work  should  be  checked  up  and  where  he  should  be 
able  and  glad  to  show  that  after  a  certain  number  of 
years  of  teaching  he  has  grown  to  the  full  stature  of  a 
man  in  his  chosen  work,  that  he  is  in  the  van  of 
progress  in  his  methods  of  teaching,  in  short,  that  he 
is  master  of  his  profession.  For  such  excellence  there 
should  be  a  premium,  should  there  not  ?  There 
usually  is  in  the  business  or  artistic  world.  Whether 
the  touchstone  by  which  he  is  tested  should  be 
labeled  "  superior  merit  "  or  "  fit  and  meritorious  " 
or  some  other  equally  sententious  term,  matters  not 
greatly.  But  as  matters  stand  to-day,  the  first 
mentioned  term  is  the  one  the  law  offers  us.  What, 
then,  is  the  modern  language  teacher  of  "  superior 
merit  "  ?  Does  he  not  possess  at  least  some  of  the 
following  qualities  and  abilities  ? 

First,  should  he  not  be  expected,  as  might  any 
good  teacher  of  any  subject,  to  obtain  uniformly 
good  order,  attention,  and  interest  in  his  classes, 
securing  these  desiderata  by  good  personality,  cor- 
rect methods  suited  to  his  subject  and  to  the  age 
and  progress  of  his  pupils,  and  by  the  practice 
of  sound  pedagogy  and  good  common  sense  ? 
These  are  obvious  or  surface  indications,  one  might 
almost  say.     Then  let  us  examine  into  the  things 


200  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

that  ought  to  characterize  him  especially  as  a  teacher 
of  a  modern  foreign  language. 

A  ready  command  of  the  foreign  language  in 
speech.  An  effective  use  of  the  eclectic  method, 
which  selects  from  the  direct  method  tenets  the 
best  therein,  necessitates  a  control  both  facile  and 
accurate  of  the  spoken  language. 

Attention  to  practical  phonetics.  Blind  imitation 
of  the  teacher's  pronunciation  by  the  pupils  is  not 
at  all  sufficient  of  itself  to  develop  a  correct  pro- 
nunciation of  the  foreign  tongue.  The  use  of  vowel 
charts,  particularly  in  French,  'the  use  of  a  small 
mirror  in  the  hands  of  the  pupil  to  help  him  see  how 
to  place  his  vocal  organs  to  get  certain  sounds,  the 
use  of  sketches  on  the  board  by  the  teacher  to  show 
these  positions,  much  drill  of  the  individual  pupil 
and  of  the  class  in  concert  upon  difficult  sounds 
—  some  or  all  of  these  a  successful  teacher  of  a 
foreign  language  will  use. 

Professional  reading.  He  will  read  intensively 
and  extensively  in  the  general  methodology  of 
modern  language  magazines  and  books  and  in  the 
literature  of  the  language  which  he  teaches.  Thus 
will  he  keep  abreast  of  the  times  as  to  the  best 
methods  and  devices  to  be  used.  Thus  will  he  be 
able  to  understand  and  to  interpret  the  best  thought 
of  the  nation  whose  language  he  teaches.  And  to 
you  who  are  beginning  work  in  Spanish  I  would  say, 
you  have  a  great  field  before  you  about  which  it  is 
safe  to  say  you  have  at  present  but  the  haziest  idea. 
But  it  is  a  most  enjoyable  field  in  which  to  read, 
and  I  adjure  you  to  enter  upon  it  at  once. 


THE  MODERN  LANGUAGE  TEACHER  201 

Knowledge  of  the  language  he  teaches  gained  by 
much  association  in  the  foreign  land  with  those  who 
use  that  language  as  their  native  speech.  The  ideal 
way  to  reenforce  one's  reading  and  grammatical 
knowledge  of  a  foreign  tongue  is  to  reside  contin- 
uously in  the  land  where  that  language  is  spoken. 
The  ideal  minimum  of  such  residence  is  one  year. 
Most  teachers  will  have  to  do  with  less,  in  so  far  as 
continuous  residence  is  concerned,  and  will  have  to 
content  themselves  with  summer  trips  to  the  foreign 
land.  But  for  a  satisfactory  understanding  of  the  life, 
history,  art,  political  and  social  customs  of  the  foreign 
nation,  without  which  the  teacher  is  very  greatly 
handicapped  in  effectiveness,  only  residence  abroad  or 
several  trips  abroad  will  suffice.  And  to  you  who  are 
taking  up  the  teaching  of  Spanish  may  I  suggest  that 
it  is  comparatively  easy  to  journey  to  Cuba,  to  Porto 
Rico,  to  Costa  Rica,  or  to  Panama  ?  Though  not 
equivalent  to  a  stay  in  Spain,  a  stay  in  these  coun- 
tries will  give  you  excellent  experience  with  the  Span- 
ish language  and  with  Spanish-speaking  peoples. 

Oral  practice.  The  superior  teacher  will  be  found 
constantly  giving  his  pupils  oral  practice  in  the 
foreign  language.  Question  and  answer  between 
teacher  and  pupil  and  between  pupil  and  pupil,  all 
in  the  foreign  tongue,  oral  summaries  of  reading,  oral 
repetition  of  memory  passages,  oral  reading  of  the 
lesson  text  —  these  and  many  other  similar  devices 
will  be  used  by  the  teacher  to  develop  speaking 
ability.  But  he  will  not  carry  to  an  extreme  the  oral 
work.  He  will  give  good  heed  to  the  other  phases 
of  modern  language  teaching. 


202  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

Skillful  questioning.  Questions  will  be  clearly, 
concisely  framed  whether  in  English  or  in  the  foreign 
language.  They  will  be  stimulating,  problem- 
putting,  planned  to  develop  the  topic  in  hand  or 
to  test  the  student's  preparation  or  understanding. 
They  will  be  psychological  as  well  as  logical.  They 
will  be  directed  to  the  class  usually  and  an  individual 
selected  to  reply.  And  such  questioning  will  result 
in  — 

Orderly,  intelligent  replies,  given  by  an  individual 
who  will  not  be  interrupted  by  any  other  member  of 
the  class.  No  confused  concert  replies  will  be 
accepted  nor  piecemeal  sentences  in  response  to 
questions.  Particularly  in  using  the  foreign  lan- 
guage in  question  and  answer  should  replies  be 
given  in  complete  sentences.  Besides  being  a  good 
training  in  accuracy  such  replies  make  for  a  greater 
amount  of  oral  use  of  the  foreign  language  by  the 
pupil. 

The  relative  activity  of  the  teacher  to  that  of  the 
class  will  be  such  that  the  class  will  be  more  heard 
than  the  teacher.  Participation  of  pupils  will  be 
brought  about  in  such  a  way  and  to  such  an  extent 
that  the  pupils  will  be  made  to  feel  and  the  casual 
observer  will  probably  believe  that  the  pupils  are 
doing  more  than  the  teacher. 

Drill.  If  there  is  one  thing  that  characterizes  the 
work  of  the  superior  teacher  more  than  anything  else 
it  is  the  fact  that  he  is  a  consummately  capable 
drill-master.  He  realizes  that  language  is  first  of 
all  a  habit-forming  rather  than  a  fact  subject.  To 
this  end  he  drills  in  varied  forms  on  the  same  matter 


THE  MODERN  LANGUAGE  TEACHER  203 

and  drills  in  various  matters  in  the  same  form,  but 
he  will  always  drill,  drill.  This  drill  work  will  be 
of  the  right  character  considering  the  age  of  the 
pupils  and  their  stage  of  progress,  plentiful  in  amount, 
interesting,  embracing  all  the  class,  lively. 

Induction.  He  will  be  successful  in  teaching 
grammatical  material  inductively.  He  knows  that 
there  are  many  topics  of  grammar  that  lend  them- 
selves particularly  well  to  the  inductive  method — 
for  instance,  demonstrative  adjectives  and  pro- 
nouns. And  yet  he  realizes  that  there  are  times 
when  a  deductive  presentation  of  new  material  may 
be  the  preferable  one.  But  he  will  know  when  to 
use  either. 

Cooperation.  The  superior  teacher  will  be  noted 
for  his  readiness  to  cooperate  with  his  fellow  teachers 
in  the  discussion  and  solution  of  their  common  prob- 
lems in  association  with  other  organized  bodies  that 
aim  to  improve  modern  language  teaching,  in  team 
work  with  his  head  of  department  and  his  colleagues. 
He  will  also  be  successful  in  securing  the  complete 
cooperation  and  participation  of  all  members  of 
his  classes. 

The  pupil's  root  cause  of  error.  He  knows  how 
to  get  at  the  root  cause  of  a  pupil's  error.  He  knows 
that  a  pupil  often,  when  seeking  light,  expresses 
himself  imperfectly,  haltingly,  and  seems  unable  to 
give  any  accurate  indication  of  what  is  troubling  his 
soul.  But  our  teacher  will  see  and  understand  and 
will  grasp  the  pupil's  point  of  view  and  difficulty, 
and,  what  is  more,  will  clear  up  that  difficulty  in 
short  order. 


204  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

Appeal  to  all  the  senses.  This  teacher  knows  the 
value  and  the  necessity  of  making  an  appeal  to  all 
the  senses  involved  in  mastering  a  foreign  tongue. 
Appeals  to  the  ear  are  as  necessary  as  are  those  to 
the  eye ;  vocal  organs  must  be  trained  in  practical 
phonetics  and  in  oral  practice.  He  will  train  even 
the  muscles  of  his  pupils  by  having  them  give  instant 
response  to  commands  in  the  foreign  language  that 
require  immediate  response.  He  will  appeal  to  all 
sides  of  that  complex  thing  known  as  a  young  person's 
mind,  and  thus  the  foreign  language  will  become  a 
part  of  the  mental  life  of  his  students  and  they  will 
have  acquired  a  basis  for  any  future  use  of  the  lan- 
guage and  a  "  feeling  "  for  it. 

Resourcefulness.  The  superior  teacher  will  not 
be  limited  to  a  time-worn  bag  of  tricks.  His  in- 
genuity and  alertness  will  cause  him  at  times  to 
blaze  new  trails  —  sometimes  in  ways  that  had  not 
occurred  to  him  before.  Especially  does  this  happen 
to  him  when,  under  the  inspiration  of  working  at  a 
"  white  heat  "  before  a  class,  he  sees  in  a  flash  a  new 
way  to  present  a  topic  or  a  new  way  to  drill  upon  a 
point  he  has  developed.  His  ingenuity,  however,  will 
always  go  hand  in  hand  with  good  judgment  and 
common  sense,  but  his  resourcefulness  is  based  chiefly 
upon  — 

Enthusiasm  and  forcefulness.  The  fire  of  his 
enthusiasm  is  contagious  and  leaps  from  his  own 
mind  and  eye  to  those  of  his  pupils.  He  spares  not 
himself.  He  drives  his  class  not  with  a  rod  but  with 
the  example  of  his  own  vigorous  attack  upon  the 
problem  in  hand. 


THE  MODERN  LANGUAGE  TEACHER  205 

Personality.  Personality  is  an  elusive  thing  to 
define,  isn't  it  ?  And  yet  our  teacher  of  superior 
merit  is  usually  one  of  "  fine  personality".  He 
seems  to  have  some  sort  of  God-given  quality 
emanating  from  him  that  captivates,  magnetizes, 
charms,  commands  and  yet  offers  friendly  sym- 
pathy, help,  and  companionship  to  young  folks. 

The  teaching  instinct.  And  all  those  qualities, 
you  may  say,  are  they  not  summed  up  by  saying 
that  this  teacher  has  the  teaching  instinct  ?  Yes. 
But  this  teaching  instinct,  a  gift  of  nature,  inherent, 
should,  in  the  nine  years  of  the  teacher's  experience, 
have  been  coupled  with  a  mastery  of  the  technique 
of  teaching.  Then  we  have,  beyond  doubt,  the 
teacher  who  can  be  declared  worthy  of  "  an  award 
of  superior  merit ". 

That  any  one  teacher  of  languages  should  have  in 
the  highest  degree  each  and  every  one  of  these 
qualities  and  qualifications  would  be  most  unusual, 
but  he  should,  to  be  superior,  be  able  at  least  to 
pass  muster  in  each  one  of  these  items,  and  in  the 
majority  of  them  he  will  excel. 


CHAPTER  XV 

HANDICAPS  TO  THE  TEACHING  OF   SPANISH  IN  THE 
UNITED   STATES 

The  study  of  Spanish,  which  has  increased  so 
remarkably  m  recent  years  in  our  schools,  has  been 
and  still  is  greatly  handicapped  in  several  respects. 
The  more  obvious  handicaps  are :  (i)  A  lack  of  well- 
prepared  teachers  of  the  language,  or,  to  put  it  in 
another  way,  the  presence  of  many  poorly  prepared 
instructors,  including  those  specialists  in  German 
who,  for  obvious  reasons,  are  now,  especially  in  the 
High  Schools,  turning  their  activities  to  teaching 
Spanish,  without  having  acquired  in  that  language 
a  training  comparable  to  the  training  they  originally 
gave  themselves  in  their  chosen  field.  Coincident 
with  this  lack  of  well-prepared  teachers  exists  a  cer- 
tain inertia  on  the  part  of  the  universities  in  helping 
to    remedy    this    weakness.     (2)  Beginning    classes 

1  A  combination  and  a  modification  of  two  papers  presented 
by  the  author,  one  on  Fallacies  that  Exist  in  the  Teaching  of 
Spanish,  read  before  the  Modern  Language  Convention  of 
teachers  in  the  New  York  City  High  Schools,  November  10, 
1 91 7,  the  other  on  The  Use  of  Literary  Texts  in  the  Early  Stages 
of  the  Instruction  in  Spanish,  read  before  the  Romance  Lan- 
guage Section  of  the  Modern  Language  Association  of  America, 
December  28,  1917. 

206 


HANDICAPS  TO  THE  TEACHING  OF  SPANISH      207 

that  are  far  too  large.  (3)  A  spirit  of  dilettanteism 
and  dabbling  with  regard  to  Spanish  studies  on  the 
part  of  many  students,  instructors,  and  administra- 
tive officers  in  schools  and  colleges.  (4)  Too  great 
an  acceleration  in  the  early  work  in  the  language. 

The  more  serious,  though  less  obvious,  handicaps 
seem  to  be  :  (i)  The  prevalent  idea  that  Spanish  is 
easy  to  acquire.  (2)  The  idea  that  Spanish  should 
be  taught  only  for  commercial  purposes.  (3)  The 
use  of  highly  literary  texts  in  the  early  stages  of  the 
instruction  in  the  language. 

The  removal  of  these  handicaps  constitutes  the 
chief  problem  facing  us  who  are  specialists  in  Spanish. 
We  wish  to  see  the  more  obvious  impediments 
removed  in  these  ways  : 

(1)  To  increase  and  improve  the  supply  of  teachers 
of  Spanish ;  First,  the  colleges  and  universities  must 
offer  more  courses  and  work  that  is  more  advanced  in 
Spanish  literature,  composition,  phonetics,  and  phi- 
lology, and  especially  in  methods  of  teaching  Spanish. 
At  present  Spanish  is  chiefly  a  side  show  in  most 
universities  —  a  kind  of  undeveloped  appendage  of 
the  French  Department,  known  also  as  the  Romance 
Language  Department.  Second,  boards  of  educa- 
tion should  grant  to  their  teachers  the  sabbatical 
year  on  half  pay  for  study  in  Spanish  lands.  With 
the  accomplishment  of  these  two  reforms  we  can 
hope  for  better  equipped  teachers. 

(2)  Classes,  beginning  and  advanced,  in  both 
High  Schools  and  colleges,  should  be  reduced  to  a 
working  basis  of  25  members  as  a  maximum. 

(3)  Administrative  officers  and  instructors  in  High 


208  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

School  and  college  should  take  with  considerably 
more  seriousness  than  is  being  shown  in  some  insti- 
tutions the  eagerness  of  students  to  learn  Spanish. 

(4)  We  need  to  apply  the  brakes,  to  attempt  to 
cover  less  ground  in  beginning  classes  and  to  do  more 
thoroughly  what  we  do  attempt,  in  both  reading  and 
grammar. 

The  less  apparent  but  more  troublesome  obstacles 
in  the  way  of  the  teacher  of  Spanish  need  particu- 
larly close  attention. 

The  first  of  these  less  apparent  obstacles  is  that 
peculiarly  tantalizing  and  much  distorted  belief  that 
Spanish  is  easy.  This  belief  seems  to  be  held  by 
the  public,  by  school  administrative  officers,  by 
prospective  students  of  Spanish,  and  even  by  some 
teachers  of  Spanish. 

The  public.  "  Spanish  in  a  week",  "  Spanish  at  a 
glance",  "  Spanish  in  twenty  lessons",  and  so  forth, 
are  terms  that  can  be  summarized  in  the  representa- 
tive expression,  "  Spanish  at  a  gulp".  These  terms 
are  used  on  every  hand,  chiefly  by  those  private 
language  schools  that  advertise  widely  in  the  public 
prints  and  in  public  vehicles  and  also  by  cheap  pub- 
lishing houses  that  issue  cheaper  publications.  "  The 
man  in  the  street",  even  though  he  run,  may  read  all 
about  the  ease  of  the  Spanish  language. 

School  administrative  officers.  Apparently  in- 
fluenced by  the  popular  notion  promulgated  in  the 
ways  above  mentioned,  principals  and  teachers  of 
some  schools  have  encouraged  weak  students  to 
"  have  a  try  "  at  Spanish.  Or  teachers  in  high  and 
elementary  schools  may  have  toyed  once  with  the 


HANDICAPS  TO  THE  TEACHING  OF  SPANISH      209 

language  and  thus  gathered  this  erroneous  impression, 
or  they  may  have  concluded  that  Spanish  is  easy 
because,  after  four  to  six  years  of  the  study  of  Latin 
and  two  or  three  years  of  French,  they  see  in  a  page 
of  printed  Spanish  many  words  whose  approximate 
meanings  they  can  decipher  by  comparison  with 
their  fund  of  Latin  and  French  words.  So,  if  they 
are  graduating-class  teachers  in  the  elementary 
schools,  they  say  to  Johnny,  whose  record  as  a 
student  has  been  lamentable :  "  Well,  Johnny, 
you  had  better  choose  Spanish  when  you  enter  the 
High  School.  You  know  that  that  is  the  coming 
language.  Besides,  it  is  easy  ".  So  Johnny  enters 
the  High  School  and  takes  a  whack  at  the  coming 
language  "  which  overwhelms  him  coming  and  going, 
for  he  usually  goes  soon  from  the  High  School  he 
possibly  should  never  have  entered.  A  vocational  or 
trade  school  might  have  made  of  him  a  highly  skilled 
artisan  and  useful  member  of  society.  And  the 
principals  and  heads  of  modern  language  depart- 
ments in  High  Schools  —  those  in  Podunk  or  Bing- 
town,  perhaps  —  say,  when  they  see  an  array  of 
pupils  wishing  to  "  take  Spanish  "  :  "  What  are  we 
going  to  do  for  a  teacher  of  Spanish  ?  Miss  Jones, 
you  know  Spanish,  don't  you  ?  "  Miss  Jones  admits 
having  been  exposed  to  the  language  once  in  the  dim 
past,  during  a  year  or  half-year  course  in  XYZ 
college  or  during  six  weeks  of  hard  labor  at  modern 
languages  in  a  summer  school  course.  She  is,  there- 
fore, ready  to  try  her  hand  at  teaching  Castilian. 
When  a  term  or  two  have  elapsed  she,  or  both  she 
and   the  principal,  wonder  why  interest  seems  to 


210  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

have  died  out  in  the  Spanish  course  when  "  Spanish 
is  so  easy  and  the  pupils  ought  to  progress  so  rapidly 
in  it".  Thus  is  put  into  practice  a  most  fallacious 
theory ;  with  what  disastrous  results  it  is  not  difficult 
to  imagine. 

One  also  hears  of  principals  or  heads  of  depart- 
ments who  assign  to  Spanish  classes  students  who 
have  wrestled  unsuccessfully  with  Latin  or  French 
or  German,  or  with  two,  or  even  three,  of  these 
tongues.  As  a  last  resort  he  is  given  Spanish. 
Another  struggle  begins  for  our  polyglot  student. 
He  murders  the  speech  of  Cervantes  as  impartially 
as  he  did  that  of  Goethe  or  Cicero,  or  he  imparts 
unhesitatingly  to  Spanish  words  that  pronunciation 
of  certain  combinations  of  letters  which  he  developed 
so  marvelously  in  the  French  course  he  pursued  but 
never  caught.  His  brain  contains  a  fearsome  Babel- 
like mixture  of  articles,  nouns,  verbs,  and  groups  of 
syllables.  He  will  never  be  able  to  rid  himself  of  this 
farrago  and  never  be  able  to  use  correctly  any  of  it. 

If  an  American  boy  cannot  learn  French,  he  cannot 
acquire  Spanish ;  if  a  girl  cannot  learn  Latin,  she 
cannot  master  Spanish.  Those  teachers  of  Spanish 
who  are  in  a  position  to  influence  in  their  schools  the 
making  of  programs  or  the  assignment  of  pupils  to 
language  work  should  make  every  effort  to  contro- 
vert the  idea,  wherever  it  is  found,  that  Spanish  is  a 
panacea  for  all  linguistic  ills. 

The  prospective  student  of  Spanish.  It  doubtless 
"  pays  to  advertise "  that  Spanish  is  easy,  pays 
particularly  the  proprietors  of  so-called  "  language 
schools" ;  but  the  result  is  unfortunate  for  us  when, 


HANDICAPS  TO  THE  TEACHING  OF  SPANISH      211 

imbued  with  this  notion  and  urged  on,  mayhap,  by  a 
graduating-class  teacher,  the  boy  from  the  elementary 
school  presents  himself  in  the  Spanish  classes  of  our 
High  Schools  ready  to  have  fed  to  him  the  "  coming 
language".  Of  course,  if  he  was  advised  to  take 
Spanish,  not  because  it  is  easy  but  because  it  is  a 
useful  language  for  a  young  North  American  to  know, 
we  welcome  him,  but  we  should  first  make  clear  to 
him  that  Spanish  is  not  easy,  though  it  is  most  useful. 
We  must  needs  show  him  that  there  is  no  royal  road 
to  a  mastery  of  the  language ;  that  to  acquire  it 
thoroughly  necessitates  years  of  effort. 

Teachers  of  Spanish.  None  of  the  older  and  more 
experienced  teachers  of  Spanish  cherish  the  delusion 
that  the  language  is  exceptionally  easy.  But  some  of 
the  beginners  in  this  field  of  instruction  have,  unfor- 
tunately, started  with  the  idea  that  Spanish,  if  not  a 
particularly  easy  tongue  for  themselves  to  master 
well  enough  to  teach,  should  at  least  be  easy  for  the 
high  school  pupil  to  acquire.  Such  teachers  are 
"  getting  off  on  the  wrong  foot  "  in  this  work  when 
they  start  thus  ill-advised. 

Why  is  Spanish  not  easy,  either  to  learn  or  to 
teach  ?  Why  are  various  classes  of  people  mistaken 
in  holding  any  such  belief? 

Take  pronunciation  first.  You  hear  it  said,  "  any- 
one can  pronounce  Spanish  correctly  after  two  or 
three  lessons".  Permit  us  to  doubt  this.  One  sees 
too  many  students  struggling,  after  two  years  of 
study,  with  the  simple  matter  of  the  accentuation 
of  such  words  as  verdadero>  not  to  mention  verdadera- 
mente;  with  hablo  not  to  mention  hablo;  with  ejercicio, 


212  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

not  to  mention  ejercito.  And  teachers  there  are 
who  mispronounce  capitulo,  necesita,  division  and 
estudidis.  And  when  it  comes  to  the  nice  distinctions 
of  inter-vocalic  d>  final  d,  and  initial  d,  or  of  open  and 
closed  e  or  o,  or  the  pronunciation  of  final  s>  few 
students  (shall  we  say  few  teachers  ?)  acquire  cor- 
rectness in  those  matters.  And  as  for  sentence 
intonation,  how  little  attention  is  paid  to  it !  One 
may  pronounce  correctly  each  individual  word  of  a 
Spanish  sentence  and  yet  the  sentence  as  a  whole 
may  be  absolutely  unintelligible  to  a  Spanish  person. 
The  swing,  the  balance,  the  placing  of  emphasis,  the 
rhythm  —  in  short,  the  intonation  of  the  Spanish 
sentence  is  utterly  different  from  that  of  the  English 
sentence.  Only  very  close  observation,  a  quick  ear, 
and  good  imitative  powers  will  enable  the  English- 
speaking  person  to  speak  Spanish  so  that  it  "  rings 
true  ". 

Closely  related  to  the  art  of  pronouncing  Spanish 
correctly  is  the  art  of  hearing  it  correctly.  The 
lightness  of  touch  on  the  consonants,  the  predomi- 
nance of  the  vowel  sounds,  the  distinctive  way  of 
intoning  the  Spanish  sentence,  all  make  Spanish  a 
difficult  language  to  catch  with  the  ear.  Speaking 
from  his  own  experience,  the  author  may  be  allowed 
to  say  that  Spanish  speech  was  more  puzzling,  more 
elusive  to  his  ear,  than  was  French,  and  it  took  him 
longer  to  acquire  the  ability  to  hear  and  understand 
Spanish  than  it  did  French.  Others  there  are  who 
have  had  the  same  experience. 

Take  the  matter  of  grammar.  The  superficial 
phenomena  of  Spanish  grammar  may  seem  easy,  but 


HANDICAPS  TO  THE  TEACHING  OF  SPANISH      213 

that  apparent  or  superficial  ease,  like  the  outward 
show  of  many  things,  is  deceptive.  The  more  one 
knows  about  Spanish,  the  more  difficult  does  one 
realize  it  to  be.  The  great  stumblingblocks  in  the 
mastery  of  the  language  are,  in  the  field  of  inflection, 

(1)  irregularity  of  verb  forms,  including  especially 
the  radical-changing  verbs,  (2)  the  object  pronouns, 
forms  and  positions,  especially  two  object  pronouns 
in  the  third  person.  In  the  matter  of  syntax,  one 
must  mention  (1)  the  extraordinarily  frequent  use 
of  the  subjunctive  and  (2)  the  freedom  and  the 
niceties  of  word  order,  almost  Latin,  certainly  neo- 
Latin,  in  nature.  Let  us  discuss  just  one  of  these 
points  more  fully,  namely,  the  use  of  the  subjunctive. 
Let  us  compare  it  with  the  use  of  the  subjunctive  in, 
say,  French.  Besides  using  the  subjunctive  in  every 
place  that  French  does,  Spanish  usage  requires  it  in 
the  following  cases  where  French  would  not. 

First,  in  main  clauses.  (1)  In  all  polite  commands, 
negative  or  affirmative.     French  uses  the  imperative. 

(2)  In  all  negative  commands,  polite  or  familiar. 
French  employs  the  imperative.  (3)  In  all  horta- 
tory or  "  let  us "  expressions.  French  uses  the 
imperative,  first  person  plural.  (4)  In  the  conclu- 
sion of  a  conditional  sentence  contrary  to  fact  the 
imperfect  subjunctive,  r-form,  is  used  as  much  as  the 
conditional  itself.  In  these  sentences  the  French 
employs  only  the  conditional  in  the  conclusion. 

Second,  in  subordinate  clauses.  (1)  After  the 
adverbial  conjunction  when,  the  time  being  indefinite 
or  future.  The  French  requires  the  future  indica- 
tive.    (2)  After  verbs  of  supplication  or  entreaty. 


214  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

French  uses  the  infinitive.  (3)  After  verbs  of  com- 
mand. French  usually  employs  the  infinitive. 
(4)  After  expressions  of  causation  (era  la  causa  de 
que  lo  hiciera).  The  French  usually  employs  the 
indicative.  (5)  In  the  if-clause  of  a  conditional 
sentence  contrary  to  fact,  where  one  or  the  other  of 
the  imperfect  subjunctives  is  obligatory. 

An  important  matter  to  bear  in  mind  in  this  com- 
parison is  that  in  Spanish  the  present  subjunctive 
always  differs  from  the  present  indicative  as  to  form. 
In  French  this  is  not  the  case  in  the  first  or  most 
common  conjugation,  in  which  the  two  moods  are 
identical  in  all  the  singular  and  in  the  third  person 
plural  of  the  present  tense.  Also  we  must  remem- 
ber that  there  are  two  imperfect  subjunctives  in 
Spanish,  and  a  future  subjunctive,  which  last  is,, 
however,  very  seldom  used. 

One  could  cite  other  marked  difficulties  of  Spanish 
grammar,  both  in  inflection  and  syntax,  but  probably 
enough  points  have  been  mentioned  to  refute  suc- 
cessfully any  statement  that  Spanish  grammar  is 
easy. 

Take  the  matter  of  idioms.  An  idiom  is  defined  as  : 
"  An  expression  peculiar  to  itself  in  grammatical 
construction;  an  expression  the  meaning  of  which 
as  a  whole  cannot  be  derived  from  the  conjoined 
meanings  of  its  elements. "  Of  such  expressions  the 
Spanish  language  sometimes  seems  to  be  almost 
entirely  composed.  Hardly  ever  does  one  who  has 
had  painfully  to  acquire  his  Spanish  take  up  a  Spanish 
novel  without  finding  in  an  hour's  reading  a  dozen 
idioms  new  to  him.     In  a  list  of  fifty  idioms  chosen 


HANDICAPS  TO  THE  TEACHING  OF  SPANISH      215 

at  random  in  the  work  of  a  modern  writer  of  Spain 
or  Spanish  America,  twenty  of  them  will  be  beyond 
the  comprehension  of  one  not  born  and  reared  in  a 
Spanish  land.  One  despairs  of  mastering  all  those 
locutions  that  are  found  in  highly  literary  works. 
These  idioms  are  most  perplexing;  they  defy  all 
analysis ;  they  are  elliptical  to  a  marked  degree ; 
they  have  teasing  turns  and  queer  quirks  in  them 
that  are  Oriental,  intricate,  even  mystical.  Into 
some  of  them  is  condensed  the  experience  of  a  whole 
epoch  of  Spanish  history.  And  many  of  these 
idioms,  especially  those  containing  verbs,  are  as 
common  in  the  use  of  Spanish  as  are  trees  in  a  tropical 
forest.  Suppose  we  cite  a  few  of  them  :  tener  una 
cosa  tres  perendengues ;  un  puro  de  a  tercia ;  lo  de 
telon  adentro;  no  tener  atadero;  jdigo  si  sera 
pajaro  de  cuenta ! ;  por  lo  profunda  y  cosquillosa ; 
estar  bien  por  su  casa ;  meter  la  baza  en  la  porfia ; 
como  la  capa  del  otro ;  a  buen  recaudo ;  tomar  el 
punto  de  soslayo ;  gente  de  rompe  y  rasga ;  J  .  .  .  ni 
que  nino  muerto!;  hablar  mucho  de  lo  de  tejas 
arriba ;  sobar  los  bigotes  a  contrapelo ;  alia  se  van 
en  ideas ;  regalar  fincas  en  Valencia ;  con  el  moco 
lacio;  pagar  a  tocateja,  and  so  forth.  All  these 
locutions  are  taken  at  random  from  Pereda's  Pedro 
Sanchez.1  Of  course  the  meanings  of  these  expres- 
sions are,  in  some  cases,  partly  decipherable  when 
taken  in  connection  with  their  context. 

Take  the  matter  of  vocabulary.     For  variety  of 

1  For  a  discussion  of  the  difficult  characteristics  of  Castilian 
prose  see  Professor  R.  E.  Basset's  edition  of  this  novel ;  Explana- 
tions, pp.  239-241. 


2l6  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

terms,  for  wealth  of  synonyms,  for  depth  and  range, 
for  an  ever-changing  growth  and  flexibility  (except, 
possibly,  in  the  field  of  scientific  terminology),  the 
Spanish  vocabulary  seems  to  rank  second  only  to 
English.  It  takes  years  for  a  foreigner  to  encompass 
the  literary  vocabulary,  though,  of  course,  the  prac- 
tical, everyday  vocabulary  is  limited  as  it  is  in  any 
language. 

Take  the  matter  of  sentence  structure.  This 
seems  to  be  more  nearly  that  of  the  parent  Latin 
than  is  that  of  any  other  Romance  language.  The 
freedom  of  word  order  is  striking  and,  to  the  beginner, 
particularly  perplexing.  This  includes  :  the  subject 
after  the  verb  in  declarative  sentences ;  the  frequency 
of  the  use  of  the  "  ablative  absolute  "  ;  the  frequency 
of  present  participle  clauses ;  and  the  common 
occurrence  of  infinitive  phrases  introduced  by  al  or 
for  and  having  a  noun  or  pronoun  subject,  where  the 
English  requires  a  clause  with  a  finite  verb. 

Take  Spanish  literature.  In  Chapter  II  of  this 
book  was  presented  a  brief  explanation  of  the  value 
of  a  knowledge  of  Spanish  literature.  To  fathom  the 
wealth  and  variety  of  that  literature  is  an  immense 
task.  For  the  vast  majority  of  North  Americans 
of  literary  or  scholastic  proclivities  there  lie  yet  before 
them  many  "  new  worlds  to  conquer",  new  worlds 
of  the  Spanish  drama,  ballad,  novel,  short  stories, 
folklore,  and  philology.  He  who  believes  that  all 
there  is  to  Spanish  may  be  garnered  in  two  or 
three  years  of  study  is  more  to  be  pitied  than 
scorned",  for  he  is  probably  one  of  those  misguided 
or,   rather,    unguided    souls    who    would    exclaim, 


HANDICAPS  TO  THE  TEACHING  OF  SPANISH      217 

"Spanish  literature!  Has  Spain  a  literature?"  as 
was  once  asked  by  a  teacher  attending  a  course  in 
elementary  Spanish  in  Extension  Teaching  in  Co- 
lumbia University. 

With  the  foregoing  have  been  suggested  at  least 
some  of  the  things  that  prove  fallacious  the  idea 
that  Spanish  is  easy.  Spanish  at  a  gulp  leads  either 
to  starvation  or  indigestion.  So  it  behooves  us  to 
give  the  warning  constantly :  "  Beware  of  Spanish 
in  a  week  !     Beware  of  Spanish  in  twenty  lessons !  " 

The  second  handicap  that  is  more  serious  than  is 
commonly  realized  is  the  prevalent  idea  that  Spanish 
should  be  taught  only  for  commercial  purposes.  It 
is  inspiring  to  know  that  in  teaching  Spanish  to  our 
youth  we  are  teaching  the  language  of  nineteen  inde- 
pendent nations  —  one  constitutional  monarchy  of 
the  Old  World  and  eighteen  of  our  sister  republics  in 
the  New  World ;  that  we  are,  therefore,  teaching  a 
language  of  great  practical  and  commercial  value. 
But  this  idea  is  overemphasized  when  it  is  not  taken 
in  connection  with  the  probably  greater  values  of 
Spanish  described  in  Chapter  II.  That  educators 
frequently  have  misplaced  the  study  of  Spanish  in 
the  curriculum  may  be  instanced  by  the  fact  that  in 
the  fall  of  1917  in  all  those  evening  High  Schools  of 
New  York  City  in  which  classes  are  given  in  most 
subjects  five  nights  a  week,  Spanish  was  offered  only 
three  times  a  week,  as  were  bookkeeping,  stenography, 
and  penmanship,  on  the  theory  that  as  commercial 
subjects  are  offered  but  three  nights  a  week,  therefore 
Spanish,  being  a  commercial  subject,  should  have  but 
three    recitations.     However,    those    students    who 


2l8  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

asserted  that  they  expected  to  take  the  State  exami- 
nations in  Spanish  were  permitted  to  study  the 
language  five  nights  a  week  in  classes  formed  espe- 
cially for  them.  An  interesting  theory  and  practice, 
indeed,  especially  when  all  French  and  German 
classes  in  those  schools  have  five  sessions  a  week ! 

In  port  cities  and  in  manufacturing  centers  where 
articles  are  made  for  export  to  Spanish  lands,  Spanish 
will  continue  to  be  beyond  any  shadow  of  doubt  of 
more  importance  in  the  conduct  of  business  affairs 
of  the  Western  World  than  any  other  modern  lan- 
guage except  English.  Let  us  recapitulate  tersely 
some  interesting  figures.  Our  imports  from  the 
South  American  continent  jumped  from  217  millions 
in  191 3  to  542  millions  in  1917,  and  our  exports  to  that 
continent  in  the  same  time  increased  from  146  mil- 
lions to  259  millions.  Of  course  the  circumstances 
have  been  peculiarly  favorable  for  this  wonderful 
increase  of  trade.  And  we  cannot  hold  it  easily 
after  the  war.  To  hold  it,  to  increase  it,  we  must 
adopt  the  methods  of  some  of  our  competitors, 
especially  the  Germans.  Our  traveling  salesmen 
must  be  men  fluent  in  Spanish,  acquainted  with  the 
customs,  the  ways  of  business,  the  peculiarities  of  the 
peoples,  their  likes  and  dislikes,  etc.,  for  all  of  which 
the  very  first  requisite  is  a  knowledge  of  the  Spanish 
language.  We  must  train  our  young  men  to  be 
travelling  salesmen  of  the  sort  that  Germany  has 
sent  to  do  business  with  South  American  countries. 
We  must  train  our  young  men  and  our  young  women 
in  Spanish  correspondence  and  in  South  American 
economic  and  political  history. 


HANDICAPS  TO  THE  TEACHING  OF  SPANISH     219 

But  the  study  of  Spanish  means  more  than  this. 
In  Chapter  II  it  was  shown  that  the  study  of  the 
language  has  a  disciplinary  side,  if  by  that  is  meant 
that  it  presents  plenty  of  difficulties,  to  conquer 
which  will  make  brain  loops.  And  the  cultural  value 
of  Spanish  is  as  great  as  is  that  offered  by  any  other 
modern  language  if  the  people  and  if  the  educators 
of  the  country  but  once  realize  what  the  literature 
of  Spain  offers.  And  most  important  of  all,  as  was 
pointed  out  in  previous  discussions,  the  study  of 
Spanish  is  the  very  first  foundation  stone  for  real 
Pan  Americanism  and  New  World  international 
amity.  One  almost  insensibly  comes  to  have  a 
strong  sympathy  for  the  nation  whose  language  one 
studies.  A  study  of  Spanish  throughout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  United  States  is  the  surest  and  the 
most  efficacious  way  to  create  a  sympathetic  under- 
standing of  Spanish  America.  This  will  lead  to  a 
mutual  understanding  in  all  the  Americas.  With 
this  mutual  understanding  the  future  of  the  Americas 
is  bright.  Without  it,  it  is  at  best  but  hazy  and 
uncertain. 

After  all,  Spanish  is  Spanish,  whether  studied  for 
commercial  or  any  other  purposes;  but  we  should 
tirelessly  labor  to  show  that  Spanish  is  particularly 
rich  in  opportunities  for  the  North  American  student, 
in  that  it  offers  more  than  any  other  foreign  tongue 
commercial,  cultural,  and  international  values  in 
almost  equal  proportions. 

Third,  the  use  of  literary  texts  in  the  first  year  of 
the  study  of  Spanish  has  been  a  greater  hindrance 
in  the  teaching  of  this  language  than  is  generally 


220  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

realized.  In  no  foreign  language  is  it  true  to  such  an 
extent  as  in  Spanish  that  literary  writings  are  pecul- 
iarly and  unusually  difficult  for  the  English-speaking 
student.  We  have  already  discussed  the  difficulties 
presented  by  pronunciation,  grammar,  idioms,  vo- 
cabulary, and  sentence  structure.  It  remains  to 
mention  the  fact  that  the  differences  that  exist 
between  literary  Spanish  and  the  Spanish  of  everyday 
use  are,  beyond  peradventure,  much  greater  than 
in  the  case  of  any  other  European  language.1  Side 
by  side  with  the  foregoing  statements  of  this  para- 
graph let  us  place  another  statement,  namely,  that 
Spanish,  of  all  modern  foreign  languages  taught 
to-day  in  the  United  States,  is  usually  and  rightly 
regarded  as  possessing  the  most  practical  significance 
of  them  all.  Then  the  inference  that  must  be 
drawn  is  that  our  beginning  reading  should  indubita- 
bly be  "  practical  "  in  nature.  And  yet  the  reading 
material  for  use  in  the  first  year  or  year  and  a  half 
of  the  study  of  Spanish  has  been  chiefly  literary, 
comprising  selections  from  Valera,  Taboada,  Pardo 
Bazan,  Fernan  Caballero,  Alarcon,  Valdes,  Trueba, 
Becquer,  Selgas,  and  others  of  their  type.  As  an 
example  of  what  this  condition  has  led  to,  the  writer 
may  state  that  he  recently  found  a  teacher  who  was 
energetic  but  inexperienced  (in  Spanish)  at  work  in 
one  of  our  budding  high  school  Spanish  departments 
trying  to  put   a   class   of  second  term  children  of 

1  See  the  very  interesting  discussion  of  this  matter  in  Spanish 
Texts  and  the  Spanish  Language  by  Dr.  John  Van  Home,  of  the 
University  of  Illinois,  in  The  Modern  Language  Journal  for 
January,  191 8. 


HANDICAPS  TO  THE  TEACHING  OF  SPANISH      221 

fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age  through  the  mazes  of 
El  Capitdn  Veneno  and  then  wondering  why  they 
seemed  stupid  at  it.  She  was  asked  why  she  did  not 
give  them  Don  Quijote  in  second  term  instead  of  such 
a  text,  and  in  round-eyed  seriousness  she  said  she 
feared  that  that  would  be  still  more  difficult.  She 
was  told  that  it  would  not  be  much  more  absurd  than 
El  Capitdn  Veneno,  and  the  head  of  department  (he 
was  a  specialist  in  —  some  other  language)  was  asked 
to  omit  all  further  attempts  to  read  Spanish  in 
second  term  work  until  the  classes  had  obtained  some 
copies  of  Fulano  and  Mengano's  First  Spanish  Reader, 
or  to  return  to  the  Zutano  Elementary  Spanish 
Reader,  only  the  first  half  of  which  had  the  classes 
studied  in  first  term  work.  Since  then  the  writer 
has  often  asked  himself  how  much  of  this  same  kind 
of  unwise  selection  of  reading  material  is  being  done 
in  other  cities  and  towns  of  the  country. 

To  read,  or  rather  to  attempt  to  read,  these  delight- 
ful but  difficult  writings  of  the  authors  mentioned,  in 
the  first  year  or  year  and  a  half  of  high  school  (and 
shall  we  say  also  in  the  first  year  of  college  ?),  has 
been  most  discouraging  to  both  pupils  and  instructor. 
Such  efforts  have  often  proved  to  be  mere  tours  de 
force  and  have  resulted  neither  in  the  acquirement 
of  a  practical  vocabulary  nor  in  a  proper  appreciation 
of  these  literary  masterpieces.  Such  efforts  account, 
in  large  part,  do  they  not,  for  the  large  "  mortality  " 
in  the  classes  in  Spanish  which  we  have  often  observed 
and  tried  to  explain.  One  might  also  add  that  these 
authors,  most  of  them  at  least,  do  not  use  the  lan- 
guage of  present-day  Spain.     Azorin   not  Alarcon, 


222  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

Alas  not  Valdes,  Unamuno  not  Valera,  write  the 
language  that  Spaniards  use  to-day. 

Our  thesis  is,  then,  that  reading  selections  in  the 
first  year  or  year  and  a  half  of  the  study  of  Spanish 
should  be  selected,  not  for  literary  values,  but  for 
practical,  everyday  ideas  and  vocabulary.  Literary 
style,  even  in  English,  is  certainly  little  understood 
or  appreciated  by  the  high  school  Freshman,  or,  for 
that  matter,  by  the  high  school  Senior.  (Query: 
Is  literary  style  in  English  appreciated  by  even 
college  Freshmen  or  Sophomores  ?)  And  the  same 
statement  is  true  of  the  vocabulary  of  literary  selec- 
tions. Why  inflict  literary  style  and  vocabulary 
of  a  foreign  language  upon  the  young  student  before 
he  has  acquired  some  mastery  of  the  ordinary,  every- 
day language  ?  The  practice,  rather  common  in 
college  work,  of  racing  through  a  beginning  grammar 
and  two  or  three  novels,  all  in  the  first  year  of  study, 
has  absolutely  no  place  in  the  high  school,  nor,  for 
that  matter,  in  any  college  class  where  is  entertained 
the  hope  of  a  real  mastery  of  the  language. 

The  reasons  why  literary  material  has  been  used 
so  much  in  the  early  study  of  Spanish  are  possibly 
these :  (i)  Failure  to  realize  that  a  great  gulf  exists 
between  literary  and  everyday  Spanish;  (2)  the 
persistence  of  the  tradition  that  the  first  thing  to  read 
in  a  foreign  language  is  something  written  by  a  great 
writer;  and  (3),  as  a  result  of  this  failure  and  of  this 
tradition,  the  fact  that  until  very  recently  little  else 
than  literary  material  of  the  kind  here  cited  has 
been  available  in  editions  made  for  class  use. 

What  is  meant  when  we  say  that  our  early  reading 


HANDICAPS  TO  THE  TEACHING  OF  "SPANISH      223 

should  be  of  a  more  practical  nature  than  it  usually 
is  ?  Just  this :  It  should  be  "  constructed  "  or 
"  adapted  "  Spanish,  simply  and  correctly  written, 
and  should  deal  with  some  or  all  of  the  following 
topics :  Descriptions  of  daily  life  connected  with 
Spain  or  Spanish-American  lands  ;  discussions  of  the 
school,  the  family,  the  city,  the  country,  customs 
and  traditions  ;  paraphrases  of  great  national  ballads, 
plays,  novels,  or  even  bits  of  folk-lore ;  world-old 
tales  already  known  to  the  student  in  their  English 
version  (these  the  student  will  welcome  as  an  old 
friend  in  a  new  garb  and  the  sense  of  familiarity  will 
help  him  to  follow  the  story  and  anticipate  the  mean- 
ings of  new  words) ;  informative  articles  concerning 
the  government,  history,  national  heroes,  and  geog- 
raphy of  Spanish-speaking  nations.  Many  begin- 
ning books  containing  material  of  this  nature  are 
available  in  the  study  of  French  and  German ;  few 
are  to  be  had  at  present  in  Spanish.  But  we  are  going 
to  have  them.  Those  long-headed  business  men,  the 
publishers  of  modern  language  books,  have  seen  the 
desirability  of  supplying  this  kind  of  readers.  We 
are  not  without  hope.  Books  of  this  type  are  appear- 
ing ;  more  will  follow.  The  point  is,  let  us  use  them. 
Let  us  begin  by  putting  the  horse  before  the  cart 
and  by  reading  practical  material  in  the  first  steps 
of  teaching  Spanish,  the  practical  foreign  language. 
Later  let  us  give  our  students  plenty  of  Spanish 
literary  masterpieces  to  read.  There  are  great 
expanses  of  the  field  of  Spanish  literature  which 
North  Americans  greatly  need  to  explore.  But  let 
us  give  our  students  this  material  at  the  proper  time. 


224  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

Let  us  teach,  at  least  in  the  first  year  of  Spanish  in 
college  and  in  the  first  year  and  a  half  of  high  school, 
the  Spanish  language  of  everyday  life,  of  present- 
day  Spain  and  of  present-day  Spanish  America.  Let 
us  not  attempt  to  teach  our  students  to  run  before 
they  have  learned  to  walk. 

The  teaching  of  Spanish  in  this  country  needs 
reorientation  at  the  several  points  here  discussed. 
Time  will  be  necessary  to  accomplish  this.  But  first 
of  all  is  necessary  a  clear  visualization  of  the  handi- 
caps that  exist.  Then  the  intelligent,  concerted 
determination  of  teachers  of  Spanish  in  all  types  of 
educational  institutions  may  be  relied  upon  to  bring 
about,  in  time,  the  abolition  of  the  handicaps  which 
at  present  hinder  country-wide  excellence  in  Spanish 
instruction. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

SPANISH  AS  A  FOUNDATION  FOR  THE  STUDY  OF 
LATIN 

Recently,  as  is  well  known,  the  Latinists  have 
been  making  a  determined  and  aggressive  campaign 
in  the  attempt  to  obtain  for  Latin  a  place  in  our 
educational  scheme  still  larger  than  the  rather 
ample  one  already  occupied.  The  Latin  scholars, 
in  so  doing,  have  come  out  of  their  cloistered  cells 
and  made  strenuous  and,  let  us  hope,  successful 
efforts  to  relate  Latin  to  practical  life.  This  move- 
ment has  been  beneficial  in  many  ways,  not  least 
of  all  to  the  teachers  and  the  teaching  of  Latin. 
When  any  man  is  called  forth  to  justify  before  the 
world  his  life  work,  he  finds  himself  so  stimulated 
and  put  upon  his  mettle  that  the  result  cannot 
but  be  beneficial  to  himself,  at  least,  if  not  also  to 
his  cause.  Incidentally,  the  Latinists  have,  in  this 
process  of  self-examination  and  of  creation  of 
propaganda  in  favor  of  their  subject,  taken  several 
pages  from  the  book  of  modern  language  teaching. 

Among  the  more  notable  claims  that  are  advanced 
for  Latin  are  the  following:  (i)  that  it  provides 
excellent  mental  discipline  for  students;  (2)  that 
it  affords  a  medium  for  insight  into  and  under- 
standing of  the  English  language;  (3)  that  it  is  a 
language  of  great  usefulness  to  the  physician,  the 

225 


226  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

lawyer,  the  pharmacist,  and  the  scientist  of  what- 
ever kind ;  (4)  that  Latin  literature  presents  models 
of  prose,  of  poetry,  and  of  drama  that  are  of  im- 
perishable worth  and  that  have  influenced  all  modern 
literatures  in  a  very  helpful  way ;  and  (5)  that  Latin 
is  the  best  foundation  for  the  study  of  Romance 
languages,  particularly  French  and  Spanish,  which 
are  now  studied  so  widely. 

The  first  four  claims  here  cited  are,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  present  writer,  well  founded.  He  subscribes 
heartily  to  all  four,  but  halts  short  at  accepting 
the  fifth  claim,  although  it  has  been  advanced  very 
positively,  not  only  by  Latin  partisans,  but  also  by 
no  inconsiderable  number  of  modern  language 
specialists.  There  is  another  side  to  the  story,  the 
reverse  of  the  shield  that,  in  his  judgment,  merits 
preference  and,  at  the  same  time,  elucidation. 
This  view  or  thesis  is  expressed  thus :  Spanish 
should  be  studied  as  a  foundation  for  Latin.  And 
in  advocacy  of  this  doctrine,  pure  heresy,  of  course, 
in  the  eyes  of  the  Latinists,  there  is  nothing  in- 
consonant with  a  whole-hearted  acceptance  of  the 
first  four  claims  for  Latin  here  mentioned.  And 
for  this  reason :  A  study  of  Spanish  for  one  year, 
or,  if  possible,  for  two  years,  before  Latin  is  at- 
tempted will  enable  the  student  to  encompass  in  a 
more  thorough  and  lasting  manner  whatever  cul- 
tural, disciplinary,  and  utilitarian  benefits  inhere 
in  a  study  of  Latin.1 

1  It  is  not  a  new  idea  on  the  part  of  the  author  to  have  some 
modern  Romance  language  studied  previous  to  taking  up  Latin. 
In  the  Austrian  Reform-Realgymnasien  it  has  been  the  practice 


A  FOUNDATION  FOR  THE  STUDY  OF  LATIN      227 

Teachers  of  Spanish  would,  so  far  as  the  lighten- 
ing of  their  own  burdens  is  concerned,  joyfully 
welcome  an  inalterable  regulation  that  no  student 
be  allowed  to  approach  the  study  of  Spanish  with- 
out a  previous  successful  completion  of  a  year  or 
two  years  of  Latin.  What  a  sigh  of  relief  we  should 
then  give !  Our  task  would  then  be  astonishingly 
easy  and  delightful;    the  road  of  progress  for  our 

since  1909  to  carry  the  study  of  French  for  four  years  before 
undertaking  Latin.  During  the  last  four  years  of  the  course 
both  languages  are  carried.     The  hour  scheme  is  as  follows: 

French     6      5       4      43333=31 
Latin       —    —    —    —    77    8     8  =  30 

******* 

The  Perse  School,  Cambridge,  England,  has  for  years  been 
working  under  a  curriculum  wherein  French  is  begun  three 
years  before  Latin  is  attempted.  It  is  of  interest  to  know  that 
the  Director  of  that  school,  Dr.  W.  H.  D.  Rouse,  is  a  Latinist, 
and  that  the  curriculum  in  its  present  form  (putting  French  in 
at  an  earlier  stage  than  Latin)  is  his  own  plan.  He  is  convinced 
that  at  the  end  of  five  years  of  French  and  two  years  of  Latin 
(both  having  been  taught  by  a  modified  direct  method)  the 
pupils  know  as  much  Latin  as  they  do  French.  To  quote  from 
a  statement  in  a  brief  curriculum  issued  by  the  school:  "The 
general  result  is  that  the  Sixth  Form  attains  the  usual  scholar- 
ship standard,  but  at  a  comparatively  small  cost  of  time  and 
with  unimpaired  freshness  of  interest.  Thus,  a  boy  at  sixteen 
under  this  system  attains  better  results  in  Latin  after  540  school 
hours,  than  he  does  under  the  current  system  after  2160  school 
hours.'*  All  the  arguments  that  may  be  advanced  for  French 
previous  to  Latin  in  Austria  and  in  England  hold  equally  well 
for  either  French  or  Spanish  in  the  United  States;  but  there 
are  also  some  very  important  reasons  why  Spanish  should  be 
given,  among  us,  the  preference  over  French,  and  these  reasons 
will  be  set  forth  in  the  course  of  this  chapter. 


228  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

pupils  smooth  and  straight.  Into  the  Latin  hopper 
would  be  fed  all  beginners  of  foreign  language  study. 
The  students  incapable  linguistically  would  be  sifted 
out  and  be  borne  off  in  a  side-chute.  Those  who 
survived  the  Latin  mill  would  be  conveyed  into  the 
two  or  three  Romance  language  machines,  ready  for 
a  new  stamping  and  finishing.  Fine  !  The  Latinists 
would  do  the  drudgery.  We  latter-day  Romans 
would  do  the  higher  work  and  rejoice  in  the  superior 
grade  of  material  that  would  come  to  us.  No  more 
despairing  hours  spent  in  trying  to  teach  youngsters 
the  difference  between  an  adjective  and  a  noun  or 
the  significance  of  verb  terminations  ! 

Of  course  Spanish  is  easier  for  the  student  who 
has  a  year  or  two  of  Latin.  But  what  is  to  be  said 
about  the  greater  ease  of  Latin  for  the  student  who 
has  had  a  year  or  two  of  Spanish  ? 

Fortunately  for  the  children,  or  unfortunately 
for  us  Hispanists,  we  cannot  dodge  duty  so  easily. 
We  cannot  shift  the  burden  that  way.  We  are 
compelled  to  face  the  issue  and  to  press  the  counter- 
claim for  Spanish  as  a  basis  for  Latin.  And  the 
things  that  compel  us  to  this  stand  are  inherent  in 
(i)  The  times  in  which  we  live,  (2)  The  children 
we  have  to  teach,  and,  (3)  The  underlying  principles 
of  pedagogy  and  psychology. 

The  times  in  which  we  live.  The  education  of  to- 
day is  unmistakably  tending  toward  the  practical 
plus  the  cultural.  It  is  hard  for  us  who  were  brought 
up  in  the  old  Latin  school  to  accept  the  fact  that 
no  longer  does  the  cultural  come  first  and  after- 
wards  the   practical.     Our   people    are    demanding 


A  FOUNDATION  FOR  THE  STUDY  OF  LATIN      229 

in  no  uncertain  terms  that  education  prepare  for 
the  living  present  and  the  pregnant  future.  The 
Spencerian  theory  is  gaining  the  upper  hand.  Power 
to  grapple  with  social,  political,  and  international 
problems  must  be  developed.  Never  in  the  history 
of  our  nation  was  this  ability  so  much  needed  as 
now.  We  have  become  a  world  power.  The  chil- 
dren of  to-day  must  be  the  broad-minded  citizens 
of  to-morrow.  They  must  understand  foreign  na- 
tions. They  must,  therefore,  know  modern  lan- 
guages. We  are  pledged  as  a  nation  to  upbuild 
ravaged  France.  We  shall  have,  who  knows  how 
many,  millions  of  American  youths  fighting  on  the 
soil  of  France  the  battles  of  democracy.  When 
those  whose  lives  are  spared  return  to  their  homes, 
they  will  demand  that  French  be  studied  by  their 
children,  for  they  will  know  the  great  need  that 
our  nation  will  have  for  French  in  order  to  sustain 
the  spiritual  and  commercial  ties  already  formed 
with  that  great  republic  of  liberty.  And  as  for 
Spanish,  each  day  that  passes  sees  a  tightening  of 
the  bonds  that  draw  together  the  United  States 
and  Spain  and  the  eighteen  Spanish-speaking  re- 
publics of  the  New  World,  some  of  which  are  already 
lined  up  in  active  support  of  the  United  States  and 
of  France  in  the  wars  of  Europe.  Our  statesmen 
and  our  business  men  unitedly  and  emphatically 
urge  the  obligatory  study  of  Spanish  in  all  our 
High  Schools  as  the  first  basis  for  real  Pan  Amer- 
icanism. Call  all  this  an  uncurbed  tendency  to  the 
utilitarian,  if  you  will,  but  that  does  not  lessen  the 
fact  that  this  tendency  in  language  study  is  vital 


230  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

and  unescapable,  one  that  cannot  be  denied  or 
neglected.  In  order  that  their  real  significance 
may  be  comprehended,  however,  the  foregoing 
statements  must  be  taken  in  conjunction  with  a 
consideration  of 

The  children  we  have  to  teach  in  our  High  Schools. 
It  is  common  knowledge  that  relatively  few  who  enter 
High  School  are,  or  can  be,  graduated  therefrom  and 
that  still  fewer  enter  college.  Under  these  circum- 
stances many  children  and  their  parents,  while  not 
unappreciative  of  the  purely  cultural  and  disciplinary, 
ask,  often  because  of  economic  pressure,  that  sub- 
jects be  taught  the  children  that  will  put  them  in 
direct  contact  with  actual  life  and  that  will  help 
them  in  solving  its  problems.  For  many  or  most  of 
the  students  in  High  School,  the  first  great  problem 
is  how  to  make  a  living.  In  other  words,  things 
that  are  practical,  and  that  are  at  the  same  time 
disciplinary  and  cultural,  are  earnestly  sought. 
Spanish,  as  has  been  demonstrated  in  previous 
chapters,  offers  just  that  combination  of  qualities 
as  a  study,  namely,  a  great  utilitarian  value  plus 
literary  and  cultural  training.  The  average  boy 
remains  in  High  School,  let  us  say,  two  years.  If 
he  then  leaves  to  take  his  place  in  the  world,  an 
equipment  of  two  years  of  successful  study  of 
Spanish  will  be  of  more  value  than  two  years  of 
Latin.  He  will  have  developed  as  many  brain 
loops  studying  Spanish  as  he  would  have  developed 
in  studying  Latin.  He  will  have  acquired  as  good 
a  basis  for  future  linguistic  study  (which  would,  of 
course,  be  in  modern  languages)  as  if  he  had  studied 


A  FOUNDATION  FOR  THE  STUDY  OF  LATIN      231 

Latin  or  Greek,  French  or  German.  In  addition, 
he  will  be  able  to  make  practical  use  of  his  Spanish, 
especially  if  he  is  employed  in  a  large  exporting  or 
manufacturing  center. 

The  underlying  principles  of  pedagogy  indicate 
a  study  of  Spanish  as  a  preliminary  to  a  study  of 
Latin.  Let  us  see  how  some  of  these  principles 
operate  when  applied  to  the  question  at  hand. 

First :  interest  and  apperception.  Educators  are 
unanimous  in  their  belief  that  the  first  requisite  for 
acquisition,  assimilation,  and  progress  in  any  study 
is  that  the  student  have  a  keen  interest  therein. 
If  the  interest  does  not  already  exist  when  the 
subject  is  first  approached,  it  is  the  first  duty  of 
the  teacher  to  create  interest,  to  build  up  an  "  apper- 
ceptive mass  "  in  the  student's  mind  so  that  he  will 
instinctively  feel  that  the  subject  before  him  is  of 
value  to  him.  Thus  habitual  interest  in  the  subject 
is  created.  Concentrated  attention  and  mental 
self-activity  then  easily  follow.  But  it  is  in  the 
matter  of  interest  that  Latin  is  weakest,  and  here 
the  Latinists  are  able  usually  to  make  little  appeal 
especially  to  the  younger  student,  who  studies 
Latin  because  he  wants  to  go  to  college  and  must 
have  it  for  college  entrance".  This  is  the  usual 
reason,  the  only  interest,  he  has  in  choosing  Latin 
as  his  first  foreign  language.  And  when  this  slight 
interest  begins  to  fade,  when  the  pall  of  declensions, 
conjugations,  involved  syntax,  and  word  order  be- 
gins to  weigh  heavily  upon  him,  he  despairs.  He 
sees  no  one  in  his  daily  life,  not  even  his  teacher 
of  Latin,  who  pretends  to  speak  the  language  he 


232  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

is  laboring  at.  His  chum,  who  has  begun  Span- 
ish on  entering  High  School  with  him,  hears  Spanish 
in  the  streets,  in  business  houses,  sees  Spanish 
signs  in  the  windows,  tries  to  read  Spanish  news- 
papers and  magazines.  Our  Latin  neophyte  begins 
to  be  a  bit  uneasy  and  dubious  about  the  wisdom 
of  having  chosen  Latin.  Nor  does  it  encourage 
him  to  be  told  by  his  teacher  that  he  will  under- 
stand English  better  if  he  perseveres  in  his  Latin 
or  that  he  must  know  Latin  to  get  into  college. 
His  chum  is  going  to  present  Spanish  for  college 
entrance.  English,  the  boy  argues,  he  studies  in 
classes  made  for  that  purpose,  —  English  classes. 
And  when  his  chum  begins  to  study  Latin  a  year 
or  so  later  and  eventually  catches  up  with  him  in 
that  subject,  he  feels  indeed  that  he  made  a  mis- 
take. In  other  words,  he  has  had  hard  work  to 
keep  alive  his  interest,  which  had  so  little  to  feed 
upon  in  the  first  place  and  which  had  so  many 
doubts  to  contend  with.  The  boy  who  begins  his 
foreign  language  with  Spanish,  who  has  opportunities 
to  speak  Spanish  with  his  teacher  in  class  and  out, 
with  people  outside  the  school  and  in  the  Spanish 
club  of  the  school,  finds  his  interest  growing  rather 
than  diminishing.  He  is  also  building  up,  uncon- 
sciously, the  finest  kind  of  an  apperceptive  mass  for 
the  study  of  Latin  when  he  is  ready  for  a  second 
foreign  language. 

Second:  procedure  from  the  immediate  to  the 
remote,  from  environment  outward,  from  the  con- 
crete to  the  abstract,  from  the  modern  to  the  ancient. 
From  the  very  first  day  in  the  Spanish  class,  the 


A  FOUNDATION  FOR  THE  STUDY  OF  LATIN      233 

pupil  begins  to  use  Spanish.  He  is  taught  to  talk 
and  write  of  objects  and  activities  of  the  classroom, 
of  his  home,  of  his  work  and  his  play.  It  is  only 
with  much  greater  difficulty  that  this  can  be  done 
successfully  in  Latin.  The  process  is  too  involved 
and  uncertain  in  that  language.  Spanish  is  con- 
crete. Latin  must  always  seem  abstract  and  far- 
fetched to  the  young  beginner.  The  Spanish-born 
or  Spanish-speaking  teacher  is  a  living  example  of 
Spanish  speech.  Even  where  direct-method  teach- 
ing of  Latin  is  tried,  it  must  needs  seem  to  the  pupil 
a  tour  de  force,  for  he  knows,  young  though  he  may 
be,  that  no  native  user  of  the  Latin  language  lives 
to-day.  He  is  skeptical,  for  he  knows  the  attempt 
to  speak  Latin  is  artificial,  unreal.  When  history 
or  social  science  is  taught,  the  starting  point  is  not 
the  history  of  Egypt  or  Greece  or  Rome.  It  is  the 
history  of  the  city,  of  the  state,  or  of  the  United 
States,  that  is  first  offered.  The  organization  of 
the  school  district,  of  the  town,  the  county,  the 
state,  the  Federal  Government,  and  then  of  foreign 
governments,  is  the  sequence  followed  in  the  teach- 
ing of  civics.  One  does  not  learn  to  read  Chaucer 
before  making  a  study  of  modern  English.  The 
study  of  the  philology  of  a  language  is  not  begun 
before  the  modern  forms  of  that  language  are  known. 
It  seems,  then,  but  the  soundest  common  sense 
and  the  very  basis  of  pedagogy  to  build  up  a  student's 
foreign  language  sense  till  it  may  reach  to  Latin. 
Taking  the  more  remote,  the  more  abstract,  and  the 
ancient  first  seems  surely  like  beginning  at  the 
wrong  end  of  the  scale. 


234  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

Third:  procedure  from  the  less  difficult  to  the 
more  difficult.  This  is  a  sound  principle  of  educa- 
tion. Who  could  deny  it  successfully  ?  And  yet 
the  very  acceptance  of  this  principle  demands  irre- 
futably the  teaching  of  Spanish  (or  French  or  Italian 
or  Portuguese)  as  a  preliminary  to  Latin.  This  is 
true  from  the  standpoints  of  pronunciation,  of 
inflection,  and  of  syntax. 

Take  pronunciation  first.  The  syllabic  stress  of 
Spanish  words  is  an  easy  matter,  much  more  so 
than  in  Latin.  The  first  glance  at  a  word  in  Span- 
ish determines  the  stress.  Any  exception  to  two 
simple  rules  is  indicated  by  a  written  accent  mark 
showing  the  position  of  the  stress.  The  quantity 
of  syllables  in  Latin  is  a  puzzling  matter  to  beginners 
and  even  to  advanced  students,  as  those  know  who 
have  taught  Latin  poetry.  But  a  Spanish  word 
derived  from  Latin  (from  which  language  most 
Spanish  words  take  their  origin)  usually  conserves 
the  same  stress  it  had  in  the  original  Latin.  (In 
nouns  the  stress  is,  of  course,  that  found  in  the 
Latin  accusative  singular.)  Hence  a  student  who 
knows  Spanish  will  nearly  always  stress  properly 
the  Latin  word.  Let  us  take  a  few  words  as  ex- 
amples of  this  fact.  Aman,  amant ;  facil,  facilis  ; 
dificil,  difficilis  ;  dnimo,  animum  ;  imagen,  ima- 
ginem  ;  poetico,  poeticus  ;  verdad,  veritatem  ;  pro- 
posito,  propositum  ;  tragedia,  tragoedia ;  cuadru- 
pedo,  quadrupedum  ;  diligencia,  diligentia  ;  ejercito, 
exercitum  ;  dormir,  dormire,  and  so  with  nearly  all 
infinitives. 

Every   letter  is   pronounced   in   Spanish    (except 


A  FOUNDATION  FOR  THE  STUDY  OF  LATIN      235 

h) ;  therefore  the  Spanish  student  finds  it  easy  to 
observe  this  same  principle  in  Latin. 

The  Spanish  open  and  close  e  and  0  have  their 
approximate  counterparts  in  Latin. 

Take  inflection.  Declension  of  Latin  nouns  has, 
of  course,  no  parallel  in  Spanish.  But  the  inflection 
in  Spanish  of  the  adjective  and  noun  for  agreement 
in  gender  and  number  provides  an  excellent  introduc- 
tion to  the  same  topic  in  Latin,  where  there  is  but 
one  more,  the  more  difficult,  element  to  add,  that 
is,  inflection  for  case.  Here  is  a  good  place  to  note 
also  that  Spanish,  more  than  French,  conforms  to 
the  Latin  in  distinction  of  verb  endings  for  each 
of  the  six  persons  of  a  given  tense.  The  Spanish 
tenses  are  simpler  than  the  Latin  in  formation  and 
in  uses.  The  present,  imperfect,  and  preterite  in 
Spanish  correspond  closely  in  forms  to  the  present, 
imperfect,  and  perfect  in  Latin.  The  future  and 
conditional  in  Spanish  are,  of  course,  not  derived 
from  the  classical  Latin  and  are  more  simply  formed 
in  all  conjugations  than  the  Latin  future  and 
imperfect  subjunctive,  the  nearest  equivalent  in 
meaning  to  the  Spanish  conditional.  The  present 
subjunctive  of  regular  and  many  irregular  verbs  is 
very  close  to  the  Latin  present  subjunctive  in  forms ; 
compare  ame,  amet  ;  pida,  petat  ;  de,  del  ;  venga, 
veniat,  etc.  The  Spanish  imperfect  subjunctive, 
r-form,  is  derived  from  the  Latin  pluperfect  indica- 
tive :  amara,  amaverat.  The  Spanish  imperfect  sub- 
junctive, j-form,  is  derived  directly  from  the  Latin 
pluperfect  subjunctive :  amase,  amavisset  ;  diese, 
dedisset.     The  point  is,  that  these  similarities  of  the 


236  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

Spanish  to  the  Latin,  while  the  Spanish  is  always  the 
simpler  form,  constitute  a  fine  introduction  to  the 
mastery  of  the  more  highly  inflected  Latin  forms. 

Take  syntax.  The  ablative  absolute  is  probably 
more  perfectly  preserved  in  Spanish  than  in  any 
other  Romance  language.  Compare,  patre  inter- 
ecto,  muerto  el  padre ;  consumpto  frumento,  agotado 
el  alimento,  etc.  This  construction  is  exceedingly 
common  in  Spanish  and,  as  in  Latin,  it  is  used  to 
define  the  attendant  circumstances,  to  replace  tem- 
poral, conditional,  causal,  and  other  clauses.  The 
Spanish  gerund  is  a  real  gerund  similar  to  that  in 
Latin,  though  the  Latin  present  participle  is  not 
continued  in  Spanish  except  in  the  form  of  a  noun 
or  an  adjective,  as  amante  ("  a  lover  "  and  "  affec- 
tionate ")  from  amans,  amantem. 

Spanish,  like  Latin,  has  conditional  sentences 
expressing  simple  condition,  future  condition,  and 
condition  contrary  to  fact,  and,  as  in  Latin,  the 
future  conditions  are  "  more  vivid  "  and  "  less 
vivid",  the  latter  requiring  the  imperfect  subjunc- 
tive, either  form,  and  the  conclusion  requiring  the 
/•-form  of  the  imperfect  subjunctive  or  the  condi- 
tional. The  same  arrangement  of  tenses  is  used  in 
conditional  sentences  contrary  to  fact  in  present 
time,  while  past  time  requires  either  the  first  or 
second  imperfect  subjunctive  in  the  ^-clause  and 
the  pluperfect  subjunctive  (r-form)  or  the  condi- 
tional perfect  in  the  conclusion.  The  condition  is 
often  disguised  in  various  ways  (present  participle, 
de  or  a  with  the  infinitive,  etc.)  or  omitted  entirely, 
thus  keeping  a  close  parallel  to  the  Latin. 


A  FOUNDATION  FOR  THE  STUDY  OF  LATIN      237 

Spanish  adheres  pretty  closely  to  the  Latin  in  the 
use  of  the  subjunctive  in  subordinate  clauses,  es- 
pecially in  those  expressing  time,  concession,  pro- 
viso, purpose,  and  relative  characteristic,  provided 
the  time  or  fact  in  question  is  uncertain  or  indefinite. 
A  few  examples  will  suffice :  priusquam  telum  abici 
posset,  antes  de  que  se  pudiera  lanzar  un  arma; 
licet  omnia  pericula  impendeant,  aunque  todos  los 
peligros  amenacen;  tantum  ut  sciant,  con  tal  que 
sepan ;  ne  sit  impune,  para  que  no  sea  impune  (sin 
castigo) ;  quis  est  qui  id  non  maximis  efferat  laudibus  ? 
I  quien  hay  que  no  lo  alabe  sobremanera  ? 

The  laws  of  the  sequence  of  tenses  prevalent  in 
Latin  usage  have  come  down  in  Spanish  in  almost 
unchanged  force,  a  thing  that  is  more  noticeable  in 
Spanish  than  in  other  Romance  languages. 

One  must  also  mention  the  rather  remarkable 
preservation  of  the  Latin  pluperfect  indicative  with 
full  pluperfect  indicative  force  in  subordinate  clauses 
in  modern  literary  Spanish  :  e.g.  No  tuvo  Magallanes 
motivo  para  arrepentirse  de  la  buena  accion  que 
ejecutara  (Ramsey,  Spanish  Grammar,  p.  401) ;  El 
pendon  de  Castilla  ondeo  luego  en  una  de  las 
torres  [de  la  Alhambra]  donde  tantos  siglos  tre- 
molara  el  estandarte  del  Profeta  (Lafuente,  His- 
toria  de  Espana) ;  Espiraba  en  este  dia  el  hom- 
bre  funesto,  sin  amigos,  divorciado  del  partido 
en  cuyas  aras  lo  sacrificara  todo,  .  .  .  abominado 
de  la  teocracia  a  quien  sirviera  (Castelar,  Fernando 
Septimo). 

As  a  part  of  syntax  one  may  briefly  consider  word 
order.     The  freedom  in  the  placement  of  the  subject 


238  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

in  the  Latin  sentence  is  reflected  in  Spanish  more 
than  in  other  Romance  languages.  It  is  very  fre- 
quent indeed  to  find  the  subject  subsequent  to  the 
verb.  Examples  may  be  found  in  any  half  page  of 
Spanish  prose. 

An  examination  of  the  above  detailed  instances  of 
similarities  between  Latin  and  Spanish  in  the  matters 
of  pronunciation,  inflection,  and  syntax  reveals  two 
things :  first,  that  similarities  are  very  marked  be- 
cause Spanish  has  preserved  in  modified  form  a 
great  many  of  the  characteristics  of  the  mother 
tongue,  and  second,  that  the  phenomena  observed 
are  less  complicated  in  Spanish  than  in  Latin. 
Thus  a  study  of  Spanish  as  a  preliminary  to  Latin 
means  proceeding  from  the  less  difficult  to  the 
more  difficult  and  in  a  field  which  is  Latin  from 
the  first  steps  in  Spanish  to  the  closing  page  of 
Vergil  or  Horace.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the 
Spaniard  finds  Latin  soon  within  his  grasp  and  that 
he  acquires  a  reading  ability  in  that  language 
that  the  English-speaking  person  rarely,  if  ever, 
attains. 

Even  though  they  insist  upon  the  existence  of  a 
greater  disciplinary  value  in  Latin,  those  who  are 
still  devotees  to  the  great  god  Discipline  must 
admit  nevertheless  that  the  greater  discipline 
should  be  entered  upon  through  the  lesser  disci- 
pline, —  if  they  so  interpret  that  training  provided 
in  a  study  of  Spanish.  The  author  is  not,  how- 
ever, of  the  belief  that  there  is  any  greater  disci- 
plinary value  inherent  in  the  one  study  than  in  the 
other.     And  in  this  connection  the  words  of  so  distin- 


A  FOUNDATION  FOR  THE  STUDY  OF  LATIN      239 

guished  a  scholar  as  Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot  must  be 
given  great  weight.     He  has  said  : 1 

It  is  often  asserted  that  the  study  of  Latin  gives  a  boy  or 
girl  a  mental  discipline  not  otherwise  to  be  obtained,  a  discipline 
peculiarly  useful  to  those  who  have  no  taste  or  gift  for  the  study. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  has  doubtless  often  happened  that  pupils 
in  secondary  schools  got  through  Latin  the  best  training  they 
actually  received;  because  their  teachers  of  Latin  were  the 
best  equipped  and  the  most  scholarly.  The  classical  schools 
have  been  the  best  schools,  and  the  classical  teachers  the  best 
teachers.  Gradually,  within  the  past  forty  years,  teachers  of 
modern  languages,  English,  the  sciences,  and  history  have 
been  trained  in  the  colleges  and  universities,  who  are  as 
scholarly  and  skillful  in  their  respective  fields  as  any  classical 
teachers.  They  can  teach  boys  and  girls  to  observe,  to  think, 
and  to  remember  in  the  new  subjects  quite  as  well  as  the 
teachers  of  Greek  and  Latin  can  in  those  traditional  subjects. 
At  least,  they  think  they  can ;  and  many  parents  and  educa- 
tional administrators  think  that  the  new  subjects  and  teachers 
ought  to  have  a  free  opportunity  to  prove  this  contention. 
That  is  all  the  proposal  to  abolish  the  requirement  of  Latin  for 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  really  means. 

The  times  in  which  we  live,  the  children  we  have 
in  our  classes  in  High  School,  and  the  principles  of 
pedagogy  and  psychology  that  we  all  accept  point 
clearly  to  the  advisability  of  making  Spanish  a 
foundation  for  Latin  rather  than  Latin  a  foundation 
for  Spanish. 

1  In  Latin  and  the  A.  B.  Degree;  published,  1917,  by  the  General 
Education  Board,  61  Broadway,  New  York  City. 


CHAPTER  XVH 

BIBLIOGRAPHY   AND    OTHER  AIDS   FOR  THE   TEACHER 
OF  SPANISH 

In  the  preparation  of  the  following  lists  of  helps 
for  the  teacher  of  Spanish,  the  author  has  'drawn 
freely  upon  the  paragraphs  referring  to  Spanish 
in  two  Bulletins  of  the  University  of  Illinois.  They 
are:  (i)  Bulletin  No.  33,  April  16,  1917,  "  On  High 
School  Libraries,  Based  on  Recommendations  made 
to  the  High  School  Conference;  issued  from  the 
office  of  the  High  School  Visitor",  Professor  H.  A. 
Hollister  of  the  University  of  Illinois ;  (2)  Bulletin 
No.  43,  June  25,  1917,  which  is  Bulletin  No.  18  of  the 
School  of  Education  of  that  University,  entitled 
"  Suggestions  and  References  for  Modern  Language 
Teachers,  Second  Edition,  Revised  and  Enlarged, 
edited  by  Thomas  Edward  Oliver,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  of 
Romance  Languages".  Of  these  two  bulletins  the 
latter  is  probably  the  most  complete,  practical,  and 
carefully  considered  compilation  of  up-to-date  books 
and  other  aids  for  modern  language  teachers  that  is 
available  at  the  present  time,  and  the  only  one  that 
gives  equal  attention  to  Spanish,  French,  and  German. 

Matter  printed  in  italics  in  the  following  lists 
has  been  added  by  the  author  of  this  book.    The 

240 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  AND   OTHER  AIDS  241 

rest  is  quoted  from  the  sections  devoted  to  Spanish 
of  the  bulletins  above  described. 


Minimum  High  School  Library  for  Teachers  of 
',  Spanish  1 

The  New  Velazquez  Spanish  and  English  Dictionary. 

Appleton.     $6.00. 
Diccionario   de    la   Lengua   Castellana,    Real    Academia 

Espanola  de  la  Lengua.     Stechert.     #8.50. 
Hume,  M.  A.  S.    The  Spanish  People.     Appleton.     1901. 

£1.50. 
Burke,  U.  R.    History  of  Spain  to  the  Death  of  Ferdinand 

the  Catholic.    2  vols.    Longmans,  Green  &  Co.     1900. 

$5.00. 
Hume.    Spain  ;    Its    Greatness    and    Decay.     Cambridge 

History  Series.     Putnam.     $1.50. 
Hume.    Modern    Spain.    Story    of   the    Nations.     Putnam. 

1900.    $1.50. 
Altamira  y  Crevea,  Rafael.    Historia  de  Espana  y  de  la 

Civilizacion  Espanola.    4  vols.    Gil .    $5.00. 
Ticknor,  George.    History  of  Spanish  Literature.    3  vols. 

Houghton  Mifflin  Co.     $10.00. 
Blanco  Garcia,  Francisco.    Literatura  Espanola  en  el 

Siglo  XIX.     3  vols.     Murillo.     $3.00. 
Wygram,  E.  T.  A.    Northern  Spain.    A.  &  C.  Black.    The 

Macmillan  Co.     $6.00. 
Calvert,  A.  F.    Southern  Spain.    A.  &  C.  Black.    The  Mac- 
millan Co.    $6.00. 

Bensusan,  S.  L.    Home  Life  in  Spain.     The  Macmillan  Co. 

igio.    $1.75. 
Ellis,  Havelock.     The  Soul  of  Spain.    Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 

1915.    $2.00. 

1  Bulletin  33,  above  described.  Pages  94  and  95.  Prepared 
by  Dr.  John  D.  Fitz-Gerald,  Professor  of  Spanish,  University 
of  Illinois. 


242  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

Minimum  High  School  Library  for  the  Pupils  of 
Spanish  1 

Cuyas.    Spanish-English  and  English-Spanish  Dictionary. 

Appleton.     #2.50. 
Pequeno  Larousse  Ilustrado.     Larousse.    £2.00. 
Fitzmaurice-Kelly.    Spanish  Literature.    Appleton.    1898. 

gi.50. 
Clarke,  H.  B.    Spanish  Literature.    Macmillan.    $1.60. 
Bates,  Katharine  Lee.    Spanish  Highways  and  Byways. 

Macmillan.     1907.     #2.00. 
Fitz-Gerald,  J.    D.     Rambles  in  Spain.     Crowell.      1910. 

£3.00. 
Rodriguez  Marin.    Cantos  Populares  Espanoles.    £2.00. 
Bates,  Katharine  Lee.    In  Sunny  Spain.    Dutton.    191 3. 

#1.00. 
Set  of  100  Stereoscopic  Views  of  Spain.    Underwood  & 

Underwood.     $18.30.     Stereoscope,  $1.30. 
Don  Quixote.     Illustrated  by  Van  Dyke.     Motteux's  transla- 
tion.    4  vols,   de   luxe.     Clarkson,   David   B.,   624-30   S. 

Wabash  Avenue,  Chicago.     $3.95.     Catalogue. 

(It  will  be  seen  that  both  the  teachers9  and  the  pupils'  lists  may  be 
purchased  for  approximately  $97.00.) 


Opportunities  for  Travel  and  Study2 

1.  Holiday  Course  for  Foreigners  in  Madrid.  The  191 7 
course  was  the  sixth  year  and  was  from  July  17  to  August  26. 
The  fee  was  fifty  pesetas.  There  are  also  Courses  of  Three 
Months  in  the  Spanish  Language  and  Literature  for  For- 
eigners ". 

1  Idem. 

2  From  this  point  on  the  lists  given  are  from  the  second  bulletin 
above  mentioned,  that  is,  Suggestions  and  References  for  Modern 
Language  Teachers,  passim. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  AND  OTHER  AIDS  243 

The  academic  year  consists  of  three  terms  of  three  months 
each.  The  registration  fee  is  forty  pesetas  a  month.  For 
information  regarding  both  the  regular  courses  and  the  holiday 
course  write  to  the  Sr.  Secretario  de  la  Junta  para  Ampliacion 
de  Estudios,  Moreto,  1,  Madrid,  or  to  Professor  John  D.  Fitz- 
Gerald,  University  of  Illinois,  or  to  Professor  Federico  de  Onis, 
Columbia  University. 

Excursions  to  other  parts  of  Spain  are  organized  in  connection 
with  these  courses. 

2.  "  The  International  Institute  for  Girls  in  Spain",  Calle 
Fortuny,  21,  Madrid,  Spain,  has  a  "  Department  for  American 
Students."  Address  the  Directora,  Miss  Susan  D.  Huntington. 
This  department  is  designed  for  young  women  who  are  able, 
preferably,  to  spend  at  least  a  year  in  Spain.  The  charge  for 
"  Home  and  Tuition,  including  Spanish,  French,  German, 
history  of  art  and  literature  of  Spain  "  is  #500,  and  per  month 
#75.     For  day  pupils  these  charges  are  respectively  #200  and  #30. 

Descriptive  circulars  and  further  information  may  be  ob- 
tained of  Prof.  J.  D.  Fitz-Gerald,  University  of  Illinois,  who  is 
a  member  of  the  advisory  council. 

3.  In  Spanish-American/ lands  there  will  be  increasing  oppor- 
tunity for  travel  and  study  when  the  Panama  trade  routes  are 
adjusted.  On  the  table-lands  of  Mexico  the  summer  climate 
is  preferable  to  that  in  Spain  or  other  Central  American  coun- 
tries. It  is  to  be  hoped  that  peace  may  soon  come  to  Mexico, 
so  as  to  permit  the  resumption  of  travel  and  sojourn  there. 
The  best  places  are  reputed  to  be  Mexico  City,  Oaxaca,  and 
Guadalajara,  all  of  which  are  over  5000  feet  above  the  sea. 

'  In  Havana,  if  care  be  taken  to  secure  a  room  facing  the  sea 
breeze,  the  climate  is  said  to  be  as  good  as  in  Madrid. 

In  the  United  States  certain  localities  of  Arizona,  notably 
Nogales,  and  of  Texas,  notably  El  Paso,  are  not  unendurable 
in  the  summer  for  a  northerner. 

The  Illinois  Central  Railroad  offers  certain  special  induce- 
ments for  travelers  to  Cuba. 

4.  Under  the  leadership  of  Ralph  E.  Towle,  the  Bureau  of 
University  Travel   (Trinity  Place,   Boston,  Mass.)   planned  a 


244  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

trip  sailing  from  New  York  January  20,  191 5,  via  Jamaica  and 
Panama  to  Peru,  Chile,  across  the  Andes  through  Argentina 
to  Buenos  Aires,  Montevideo,  Santos,  Sao  Paulo,  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
and  points  in  the  West  Indies  on  the  return  journey.  The  trip 
ended  in  New  York  in  the  first  week  in  April,  and  the  total 
cost  was  about  $1275.  This  is  evidence  of  similar  trips  that 
will  undoubtedly  be  organized  later. 

5.  Well  recommended  is  the  Springfield,  Massachusetts, 
Summer  School  of  French  and  Spanish,  which  held  its  second 
session  in  1917.  The  main  emphasis  is  given  to  pronunciation 
and  diction.  The  announcement  declares  that  *  the  courses 
will  be  similar  to  those  formerly  given,  but  not  now  available, 
in  the  vacation  schools  of  Paris  and  other  European  cities." 
Address  Charles  F.  Warner,  Secretary,  Room  16,  Board  of 
Trade  Rooms,  Springfield,  Mass. 

To  these  may  be  added  the  Romance  Language  Schools  held  at 
Middlebury  College,  Middlebury,  Ft.,  during  the  summer  vaca- 
tion. The  separate  School  of  Spanish,  with  native  instructors,  is 
under  the  able  direction  of  Senor  Moreno-  Lacalle  of  the  United 
States  Naval  Academy. 

Books  of  Travel 
Spain 

—  Castilian  Days,  by  John  Hay.     Boston  (Houghton  Mifflin 

Co.).     1907. 

—  Spanish  Highways  and  Byways,  by  Katharine  Lee  Bates. 

Illustrated.     New  York  (Macmillan).     1900.     #1.50. 

—  The  Bible  in  Spain,  by  George  Borrow.     New  York  (Put- 

nam's).    1907. 

—  The  Zincali  ;  or  an  Account  of  the  Gypsies  in  Spain,  by 

George  Borrow.     2  vols.     London  (J.  Murray).     1902. 

—  Rambles  in  Spain,   by  John   D.    Fitz-Gerald.     Numerous 

illustrations.     #3.     New  York  (T.  Y.  Crowell).     1910. 

—  Old  Court  Life  in  Spain,  by  Frances  M.  Elliot.     2  vols.     56 

illustrations.     #5.     New  York  (Putnam's). 

—  The  Soul  of  Spain,  by  Havelock  Ellis.     Boston  (Houghton 

Mifflin  Co.).     1908.     $2. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  AND  OTHER  AIDS  245 

—  Spanish  Life  in  Town  and  Country,  by  L.  Higgin.    New 

York  (Putnam's). 

—  A  Tramp  in  Spain  from  Andalusia  to  Andorra,  by  Bart 

Kennedy.     New  York  (Fred  Warne).     1904.     #2.50. 

—  Spain  and  the  Spaniards,  by  Edmondo  de  Amicis.     New 

York  (Putnam's).     $2.     The   same   in  a  two- volume  edi- 
tion, translated  by  S.  R.  Yarnell.     Philadelphia  (Winston). 

—  The  Cities  of  Spain,  by  E.  Hutton.   London  (Methuen).   $2. 

—  Quiet  Days  in  Spain,   by  Carl   Bogue  Luffmann.     New 

York  (E.  P.  Dutton).     1910.     $2. 

—  Familiar  Spanish  Travels,   by  William   Dean   Howells. 

New  York  (Harpers).     1913.     $2. 

—  Cathedral  Cities  of  Spain,  by  W.  W.  Collins.    Illustrated. 

New  York  (Dodd,  Mead  &  Co.).     1909.     £3. 50. 

—  VlSIONES  DE  ESPANA  :    APUNTES  DE  UN  VlAJERO  ARGENTINO, 

by  Manuel    Ugarte.     Valencia   (F.   Sempere).      1903.      1 
peseta. 

—  Other  interesting  books  on  Spain  have  been  written  by  A.  M. 

Huntington,   Theophile   Gautier,   Leonard   Williams,   and 
C.  W.  Wood. 

—  The  Handbook  for  Travellers  in  Spain,  by  Richard  Ford. 

London  (John  Murray).     8th  edition,  18Q2. 

—  Four  Months  Afoot  in  Spain,  by  Harry  A.  Franck.    New 

York  {Century  Co.).    191 3.     $2. 

—  The    Spaniard    at    Home,     by    Mary     F.  Nixon-Roulet. 

Chicago  {A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co.).    1910.     $1.75. 

—  At  the  Court  of  His  Catholic  Maiesty,  by    William 

Miller  Collier,  late  American   minister   to  Spain.     Chicago 
(A.  C.  McClurg  fcf  Co.).     1912.    $2. 

—  The  Cathedrals  of  Southern  and  Eastern  Spain,  by  C. 

Gasquoine  Hartley.     New  York  (J.  Pott  &  Co.). 

—  Home  Life  in  Spain,  by  S.  L.  Bensusan.     The  Macmillan  Co. 

1910.     $1.75. 

—  The  Magic  of  Spain,  by  Aubrey  F.  G.  Bell.    John  Lane  Co. 

1912.     About  $1.50. 

—  Impressions  of  Spain,  by  James  Russell  Lowell.      Houghton 

Mifflin  Co.     1899. 


246  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

—  Spanish  Vistas,  by  G.  P.  Lathrop.     Harpers.     188$. 

—  On  the  Trail  of  Don  Quijote,  by  A.  F.  Jaccaci.    Scribner's 

Sons.     1806. 

—  Heroic  Spain,  by  E.  Boyle  O'Reilly.    Duffield.    ion.    $2.$o. 


Hispanic  America 

One  of  the  recent  marked  features  in  the  development  of  our 
modern  language  departments  is  the  extraordinary  increase  in 
the  demand  for  Spanish  and  also  for  knowledge  of  those  southern 
countries  of  the  American  continent  where  this  language  or 
Portuguese  is  spoken.  Several  publishing  houses,  notably 
Macmillan  and  Benj.  H.  Sanborn,  are  preparing  extensive  series 
of  books  dealing  with  the  history,  the  language,  and  the  literature 
of  our  neighbors  to  the  south.  It  is  therefore  increasingly  essen- 
tial for  the  teacher  of  Spanish  to  become  acquainted  with  the 
history  and  the  culture  of  Hispanic  America.  The  following 
books  are  accordingly  listed  with  this  purpose  in  mind  : 

—  Across  South  America,  by  Hiram  Bingham.    New  York 

(Houghton  Mifflin  Co.).     191 1.     $3.50. 

—  South  America  :  a  Geography  Reader,  by  Isaiah  Bowman. 

New  York  (Rand,  McNally  &  Co.).     191 5.     75  cts. 

—  Elementary  Spanish-American  Reader,  by  Eduardo  Berge- 

Soler  and  Joel  Hatheway.  The  Hispanic  Series.  Benj.  H. 
Sanborn  &  Co.  1917.  #1.24.  Contains  much  material  of 
political  and  cultural  interest. 

—  Through  South  American  Southland,  by  M.  A.  Zahm. 

New  York  (Appleton).     1916.     £2.50. 

—  Mexico,  the  Wonderland  of  the  South,  by  W.  E.  Carson. 

Macmillan.     1914.     $2.50. 

—  Mexico  ;   Handbook  for  Travellers,  by  Thomas  Philip 

Terry.  With  2  maps  and  25  plans.  Boston  (Houghton 
Mifflin  Co.).     1909.     #2.50. 

—  The  Panama  Gateway,  by  J.  B.  Bishop.    Fully  illustrated. 

New  York  (Scribner's).     #2.50. 

—  Latin  America  :    its  Rise  and  Progress,  by  Francisco 

Garcia  Calderon,  with  a  preface  by  Raymond  Poincare. 
New  York  (Scribner's).     191 3.     £3. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  AND  OTHER  AIDS  247 

—  The  South  American  Tour,  by  Annie  S.  Peck.    Fully  illus- 

trated, mainly  from  photographs  by  the  author.  New 
York  (George  H.  Doran).     $2.50. 

—  A  Search  for  the  Apex  of  America,  by  Annie  S.  Peck. 

New  York  (Dodd,  Mead  &  Co.).     $3-5©. 

—  La  America  del  Sud,  por  James  Bryce,  traducido  ai  castellano 

por  Guillermo  Rivera.  New  York  (Macmillan).  1914. 
£2.50.  This  book  has  been  successfully  used  by  some 
teachers  as  an  auxiliary  reading  text.  When  ordered  thus 
for  classes  the  price  is  $2.  The  English  original  costs  $2.50 
also. 

—  Peru,  by  Reginald  Enock.     London  (Fisher  Unwin). 

—  Baedeker  of  the  Argentine  Republic,  etc.,  by  Alberto  B. 

Martinez.  (D.  Appleton  &  Co.).  191 5.  £3.  (Also  Bar- 
celona.    1914.) 

—  Brazil  in  1913,  by  J.  C.  Oakenfull.    604  pages.     Printed  by 

Butler  &  Tanner  of  Frome,  England.  1914.  7  sh.  6  p. 
The  Brazilian  Government  distributed  some  11,500  copies 
of  this  thorough  description  of  Brazil's  history  and  resources. 
In  the  United  States  the  distribution  took  place  through  the 
Pan  American  Union  of  Washington,  D.  C.  Appendix  III 
of  this  book  is  a  very  complete  bibliography  of  Brazil. 

—  Charles  Scribner's  Sons  have  made  quite  a  specialty  of  books 

descriptive  of  Latin-American  countries.  The  list  is  too 
long  for  quotation  here,  and  may  be  found  in  the  catalogue 
of  that  firm. 

—  A  book  of  value  in  this  connection  is  A  Brief  Bibliography 

of  Books  in  English,  Spanish  and  Portuguese  Relat- 
ing to  the  Republics  Commonly  Called  Latin  Ameri- 
can, with  Comments,  by  Peter  H.  Goldsmith.  New  York 
(The  Macmillan  Co.).  1915.  xix,  107.  The  critical 
comments  will  help  in  the  choice  of  reading  matter. 

—  Somewhat  less  extensive  is  the  book  South  America  :  Study 

Suggestions.  Brief  Outline  with  Bibliography,  by 
H.  E.  Bard.     D.  C.  Heath.     1916. 

—  The  Pan  American  Union,  Washington,    D.  C,  issues  a 

monthly  bulletin  splendidly  illustrated  and  devoted  to  the 
progress  and  development  of  the  twenty-one  republics  of 
the  two  Americas.     The  bulletin  is  published  in  a  French 


248  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

edition  for  75  cts.  yearly  ;  in  a  Spanish  edition  for  #1.50  ; 
in  a  Portuguese  edition  for  $1,  and  in  an  English  edition 
for  $2.  There  are  also  bi-lingual  editions  as  follows  : 
French  and  Spanish  for  $2  ;  French  and  Portuguese  for 
#1.75  ;  French  and  English  for  $2.50.  An  edition  in  four 
languages  —  English,  French,  Portuguese  and  Spanish  — 
is  also  issued  for  #4. 

This  magazine  aims  to  create  friendly  relations  throughout 
the  two  continents,  and  deserves  wide  circulation.  No  better 
means  of  acquiring  knowledge  of  our  sister  republics  could  be 
found. 

—  Among  other  periodicals  treating  of  Pan  American  affairs 

are  :  Pan  American  Progress,  Los  Angeles,  California 
(304  Wilcox  Bldg.),  and  Latin  America  (in  English  and 
Spanish),  New  Orleans  (502  Board  of  Trade  Bldg.).  Semi- 
monthly. 

—  Zone    Policeman    88,    by    Harry    A.    Franck.      {Century 

Company). 

—  Va  GA BONDING  DOWN  THE  Andes,  by  Harry  A.  Franck.      {Cen- 

tury Company)  1917.     $4. 

—  A  Diplomat's  Wife  in  Mexico,  by  E.  C.  O'Shaughnessy. 

{Scribners)  1916.     $2.$o. 

—  The  Pan  American  Union,  by  John  Barrett.     {Pan  American 

Union,  Washington,  D.  C.)  1911.     50  cents. 

—  The  Two  Americas,  by  Rafael  Reyes.     Translated  from  the 

Spanish  by  Leopold  Grahame.  New  York  {Frederick  A. 
Stokes  Co.)  1914.     $2.50. 

See  list  of  25  books  on  Latin  America  prepared  by  the  Pan 
American  Union.  It  is  called  in  a  sub-title  "  suitable  for  use  as 
supplementary  reading  and  reference  books  in  high  schools,  normal 
schools  and  colleges  ". 

—  How  Latin  America  Affects  our  Daily  Life,  by  W.  J. 

Dangaix.  Institute  for  Public  Service,  5/  Chambers  St., 
New  York.  December,  1917.  25  cts.;  special  prices  for 
class  use.  Very  practical  and  helpful  information  about  the 
products  and  economic  conditions  of  Hispanic  America. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  AND  OTHER  AIDS  249 

General  Series  that  Touch  upon  Spain 

—  A  remarkably  beautiful  series  of  books  (with  profuse  illus- 

trations colored  from  paintings  made  on  the  spot)  is  pub- 
lished by  A.  &  C.  Black  of  London.  These  volumes  are 
in  three  series  and  were  originally  sold  at  from  $1.50  to 
£5,  according  to  size.  They  may  now  be  obtained  for  half 
price  of  McDevitt-Wilson,  Hudson-Terminal  Building, 
New  York  City.  Those  on  Spain  are  entitled  Northern 
Spain  and  Southern  Spain. 

—  The  National  Geographic  Magazine,  published  by  the 

National  Geographical  Society,  Hubbard  Memorial  Hall, 
Washington,  D.  C,  often  contains  beautifully  illustrated 
articles  on  European  countries.  Membership  and  sub- 
scription $2  a  year.     Vol.  XXVIII  was  1916-1917. 

—  A  book  of  value  is  John  Scherer's  Europe  Illustrated.    Its 

Picturesque  Scenes  and  Places  of  Note.  London  (no 
date).     2  vols. 

—  The  Baedeker  Guide  Books  contain  a  vast  amount  of  valu- 

able information,  especially  in  their  introductory  pages. 

—  The  Mediaeval  Town  Series,  by  various  authors.    Lon- 

don (J.  M.  Dent).     New  York  (E.  P.  Dutton).     1898-1912. 

These  dainty  volumes  are  copiously  illustrated,  and  contain 
valuable  descriptive  and  historical  matter.  The  following 
volumes  are  of  interest  to  students  of  Spanish  :  Seville,  Toledo. 
The  prices  are  from  3  s.  6  d.  in  cloth  to  5  s.  6  d.  in  leather. 

—  Not  without  value  are  such  popular  collections  as  the  John 

L.  Stoddard  lectures  on  travel. 

—  The  Land  und  Leute.    Monographien  zur  Erdkunde, 

published  at  Bielefeld  and  Leipzig,  Germany,  by  Velhagen 
and  Klasing,  should  also  be  listed  here.  They  are  well 
illustrated,  cover  every  European  country,  and  sell  at  $1.20 
each. 

Political  Histories 
Spain 

—  Altamira  y  Crevea,  Rafael,  Historia  de  Espana  y  de  la  Ci- 

VILIZACi6n  Espanola.   Barcelona.   1909.  4  vols.  24  pesetas. 


250  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

—  Clarke,  Henry  Butler,  Modern  Spain.     1815-1898.     Cam- 

bridge (England)  University  Press.     1906.     $2. 

—  Hume,   Martin  A.   S.,  The  Spanish  People.    Appleton. 

$1.50. 

—  Hume's  edition  of  Burke's  History  of  Spain.     2  volumes. 

In  sequence  to  Hume's  edition  of  Burke's  History  OF  Spain, 
Hume  has  written  several  other  volumes  treating  of  special 
periods.  These  are  Philip  II  of  Spain  ;  Queens  of  Old  Spain  ; 
The  Court  of  Philip  IV;  Spain,  Its  Greatness  and  Decay 
1479-1788;  and  Modern  Spain. 

—  Latimer,  Elizabeth  W.,  Spain  in  the  Nineteenth  Century. 

(McClurg).     1898.    £2.50. 

—  Salcedo    Ruiz,    Angel,    Historia    de    Espana.    Resumen 

CRfTico,  e  Historia  Grafica  de  la  Civilizacion  Es- 
PANOLA,  por  Manuel  Angel  y  Alvarez.  Copiously  illus- 
trated.    Madrid  (Calleja)  191 6.     £3. 

—  Lane-Poole,  Stanley,  The  Moors  in  Spain.     New  York  (G. 

P.  Putnam's  Sons),      igu.     $1.50. 

—  Watts ,  Henry  Edward,  The  Christian  Recovery  of  Spain. 

New  York  (G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons),     igoi.    $1.50. 

Hispanic  America 

—  Mitre,  Bartolome,  The  Emancipation  of  South  America, 

being  a  condensed  translation  by  William  Pilling  of  the 
History  of  San  Martin  by  General  Don  Bartolome  Mitre. 
London  (Chapman  &  Hall).     1893. 

—  Akers,  Charles  E.,  A  History  of  South  America.    1854- 

1904.     New  York  (E.  P.  Dutton).     1904.     $4. 

—  Shepherd,  William  R.,  Latin  America.     New  York  (Holt). 

1914.  (Home  University  Library.)  50  cts.  (Presents  the 
historian's  point  of  view.) 

—  Supple,  Edward  Watson,  Spanish  Reader  of  South  Amer- 

ican History.     New  York  (Macmillan).    1917. 

—  Garcia  Calderon,   Francisco.     Latin  America  ;    Its  Rise 

and  Progress,  with  a  preface  by  Raymond  Poincare. 
New  York  (Scribner's).     191 3.     #3. 


\ 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  AND  OTHER  AIDS  251 

■  Dawson,  Thomas  C,  The  South  American  Republics.    2 

vols.     New    York    {Putnam* s    Sons).     (The    Story    of    the 
Nations  series.)     1903.     $2.95  for  both  vols. 

■  Bancroft,  Hubert  Howe,  History  of  Mexico.     New   York 

(The  Bancroft  Co.).     1914.     $2. 

■  Lummis,  Charles  F.,  The  Spanish  Pioneers.     Chicago  (A.  C. 

McClurg).    191 4.    An  ardent  defense  of  the  conquistadores. 

■  Garcia  Calderon,  F.,  Les  Democraties  Latin es  de  l'Ame- 

RIQUE.     Preface  de  M.  Raymond  Poincare.     Paris  (Ernest 
Flammarion).    191 2.     Frs.  3. 50. 

Spanish  Phonetics 

Josselyn,  F.  M.,  Etudes  de  Phonetique  Espagnole.  Paris 
(H.  Welter).  1907.  With  diagrams  based  upon  actual 
experiments. 

Araujo,  F.,  Fonetica  Kastelana.    Santiago  de  Chile.    1894. 

Araujo,  F.,  Estudios  de  Fonetica  Castellana.  Toledo. 
1894. 

Colton,  Molton  Avery,  La  Phonetique  Castillane.  Sold  by 
Geo.  W.  Jones,  194  Main  Street,  Annapolis,  Md.  Paris. 
1909.     $1.20,  postpaid. 

Bassett,  Ralph  E.,  Spanish  Pronunciation.    Abingdon  Press. 

I9H- 

See  also  articles  by  Tomds  Navarro  Tomds  which  will  appear  from 
time  to  time  in  HISPANIA. 

Histories  of  Literature 

Fitzmaurice-Kelly,  James,  Spanish  Literature.  New  York 
(D.  Appleton  &  Co.).     $1.50. 

The  same  author  has  written  a  similar  history  in  French 
(Paris,  A.  Colin,  1913),  five  francs,  with  a  bibliography 
in  separate  volume  for  which  the  price  is  two  francs.  Also 
a  like  work  in  Spanish  (Madrid  1913,  second  edition,  1916), 
eight  pesetas,  the  bibliography  forming  part  of  the  volume. 
Both  these  works  differ  from  the  English  work,  the  whole 
subject  having  been  reworked,  rewritten,  and  brought  down 
to  date. 


252  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

—  Clarke,  H.  Butler,  Spanish  Literature.    Macmillan.     1893. 

—  Ticknor,  George,  History  of  Spanish  Literature.    Three 

volumes.     Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 

—  Salcedo  Ruiz,  Angel,  La  Literatura  Espanola.    Resumen 

DE  HiSTORiA  Cri'tica.  Profusely  illustrated.  In  process 
of  publication.  Vol.  Ill,  El  Clasicismo,  appeared  1916. 
Vol.  IV  is  being  prepared.     Madrid  (Calleja). 

—  Blanco    Garcia,    Francisco,    Literatura    Espanola    EN    EL 

SlGLO  XIX.     3  vols.     Madrid  (Murillo).     $3. 

—  Fitzmaurice-Kelly,   James,   Lecciones  de  Literatura   Es- 

panola. A  translation  into  Spanish  by  Diego  Mendoza 
of  lectures  delivered  by  the  author  in  1907  in  several  universities 
of  the  United  States.  Preface  by  Rufino  Jose  Cuervo.  Madrid 
{Victoriano  Suarez).     Ptas  6. 

—  Cejador  y  Frauca,  Julio,  HiSTORiA  de  la  Lengua  y  Litera- 

tura Castellan  a.  7  vols.  Madrid  {Revista  de  Archivos, 
Bibliotecas  y  Museos).  1915-17.  {Vol.  VII:  Comprendi- 
dos  los  autores  hispano-americanos.  Epoca  Romdntica, 
1830-1849.) 

Hispanic  America 

—  Coester,  Alfred,  The  Literary  History  of  Spanish  America. 

$2.50.     Macmillan.     1916. 

Description  of  Spanish  Art 

—  Dieulafoy,  Marcel,  Art  in  Spain  andP  ortuga  l.     Illustrated, 

New  York.  {Charles  Scribners  Sons).  191  3.  $1.50.  See 
also  introduction  to  Baedeker  s  Spain. 

—  Angel  de  Apraiz ;     La  Casa  y  La   Vida  en  la  Antigua 

Salamanca.  *  Salamanca  {Calatravd).     1917. 

—  Arthur  Byne  and  Mildred  Stapley ;    Rejeria  OF  THE  SPANISH 

RENAISSANCE;  a  collection  of  photographs  and  measured 
drawings,  with  descriptive  text.  The  Hispanic  Society  of 
America.     1914.     $5. 

—  Arthur  Byne  and  Mildred  Stapley;     Spanish  Ironwork; 

with  158  illustrations.  The  Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
I9I5- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  AND  OTHER  AIDS  253 

Edwin  Atlee  Barber;  Hispano-M  ores  QUE  Pottery  in  the 
Collection  of  The  Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
Published  by  that  Society.     1915.     $1. 

Edwin  Atlee  Barber;  Spanish  Porcelains  and  Terra  Cottas 
in  the  Collection  of  The  Hispanic  Society  of  America. 
Published  by  that  Society.     191 5.     25  cts. 

Edwin  Atlee  Barber;  Spanish  Maiolica,  with  a  catalogue 
of  the  collections  of  The  Hispanic  Society  of  America.  Pub- 
lished by  that  Society.     50  cts. 

Rafael  Domenech;  Sorolla,  su  Vida  y  su  Arte.  116  illus- 
trations.    Madrid  (Leoncio  Miguel). 

S.  L.  Bensusan;  Velazquez.  Illustrated  with  eight  repro- 
ductions in  color.  Also,  MURILLO  by  the  same  author. 
"Masterpieces  in  Colour"  Series.     Frederick  A.  Stokes  Co. 

Handbooks  of  Spanish  Art.  A  series  of  ten  160  books, 
paper  covers.     The  Hispanic  Society  of  America.    50  cts.  each. 

Eight  Essays  on  Joaquin  Sorolla  y  Bastida.  By  eight 
art  critics.  2  vols.  Illustrated.  The  Hispanic  Society  of 
America.  $7. SO. 
■Five  Essays  on  the  Art  of  Ignacio  Zuloaga.  By  five 
art  critics.  The  Hispanic  Society  of  America.  50  cts. 
The  Hispanic  Society  also  publishes  a  Sorolla  Catalogue 
and  a  Zuloaga  Catalogue,  50  cts.  each. 

Journals  for  the  Teacher  of  Spanish 

Hispania,  a  new  quarterly  pedagogical  journal,  began 
publication  February,  191 8.  The  Organization  Number 
appeared  in  November,  1917.  The  $2  subscription  includes 
membership  in  the  recently-formed  American  Association 
of  Teachers  of  Spanish.  Address  the  Secretary-Treas- 
urer, Dr.  Alfred  Coester,  1081  Park  Place,  Brooklyn, 
N.Y. 

Re  vista  de  Archivos,  Bibliotecas  y  Museos.  First  Series 
(eight  volumes)  1 871-1878  ;  Second  Series  (one  volume) 
1883  ;   Third  Series  1897  to  date.     Published  in  Madrid. 

Revue  Hispanique.  Since  1894.  £4.  Published  in  Paris 
and  New  York.  1905  to  1913  inclusive,  two  volumes  annu- 
ally ;  since  191 4  three  volumes  annually.     #4. 


254  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

—  RevistadeFilolog!a  Espanola.     A  quarterly.     Since  1914. 

Occasionally  contains  articles  on  Spanish  phonetics.  Ma- 
drid. 17  ptas.  Its  bibliographies  are  especially  valuable. 
They  may  be  had  separately  for  4  ptas  a  year. 

—  La  Lectura.     A   monthly.     Since    1901.     Madrid.      Very 

helpful  to  the  teacher. 

—  Bulletin  Hispanique.     Since  1899.    £2.40  a  year.     Pub- 

lished in  Bordeaux. 

—  BoLETm  de  la  Real  Academia  Espanola.     Since   1914. 
.     Madrid,  12  pesetas. 

—  Revista    de    Filosofia.    Cultura  —  Ciencias  —  Educa- 

CION.     Since  191 5.     Buenos  Aires.     £5. 

Dictionaries 

—  Arturo  Cuyas'  edition  of  Appleton's  smaller  New  Spanish 

Dictionary.  £2.50  in  one  volume.  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 
1904. 

—  Angeli-McLaughlin,     New     Spanish-English,     English- 

Spanish  Dictionary,  gi.50.  W.  R.  Jenkins,  New  York, 
Sixth  Ave.  at  48th  St. 

—  Salva,    Vicente,    Nuevo    Diccionario    de     la    Lengua 

Castellana  por  la  Academia  Espanola.  One  vol., 
nth  edition,  1894.     Paris  (Gamier  Freres). 

—  Velazquez  de  la  Cadena,  Mariano,  A  New  Pronouncing 

Dictionary  of  the  Spanish  and  English  Languages. 
Revised  and  enlarged  by  Gray  and  Iribas.  Two  volumes, 
purchasable  separately.  New  York  (D.  Appleton  &  Co.). 
1902. 
— -Calleja,  S.,  Nuevo  Diccionario  Manual,  Ilustrado,  de 
la  Lengua  Castellana.  Madrid  (Calle  de  Valencia, 
28).  Edicion  economica,  1600  pp.;  edicion  corriente,  1900 
pp.  (about  #2.75)  ;  edicion  lujo,  2000  pp.  1914.  An 
excellent  work. 

—  Pequeno  Larousse  Ilustrado.    Paris  (Larousse).     9  francs 

in  cloth  ;    12  francs  in  flexible  leather. 

—  D.  Jose  Alemany  y  Bolufer,  DICCIONARIO  DE  LA  Lengua 

Espanola.  Barcelona  (Ramon  Sopena).  1917.  10  pesetas. 
Very  complete. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  AND  OTHER  AIDS  255 

—  DlCCIONARIO  DE   LA    LENGUA    CASTELLANA,  REAL  ACADEMIA 

DE  LA  LENGUA.     Stechert.     $8.30. 

—  DlCCIONARIO  DE  LA  LENGUA  CASTELLANA,  CON  LA  CORRESPON- 

dencia  Catalana,  by  Del/in  Donadiu  y  Puignau.  Bar- 
celona (Espasa  y  Cia) . 

Encyclopedias 

—  Diccionario  Salvat   Enciclopedico  Popular   Ilustrado. 

The  title  page  reads:  Comprende  ademds  de  todos  los  vocablos 
que  se  kalian  en  la  ultima  edicion  del  DlCCIONARIO  DE  LA 
Real  Academia  Espanola,  las  voces  tecnicas  de  Ciencias, 
Artes  y  Oficios ;  las  mas  corrientes  en  los  paises  de  America 
y  las  extranjeras  adoptadas  por  el  uso ;  f rases,  modismos 
y  refranes  mas  conocidos ;  articulos  y  notas  geogrdficas, 
historic as,  de  ciencias  fisicas  y  naturales ;  literatura,  bellas 
artes,  deportes,  etc.,  etc.  Nine  volumes  have  appeared  and 
one  supplementary  volume,  called  Apendice  I,  which  lists 
not  a  single  word  found  in  the  dictionary  of  the  Academy. 
Unbound  and  delivered  in  signatures,  it  costs  about  $3.50 
per  vol.,  but  can  be  had  in  substantial  boards  for  fifty  or  seventy- 
five  cents  more.     Barcelona  {Salvat  y  Cia,  S.  en  C.,  editores). 

—  Elias     Zerolo,   DlCCIONARIO  ENCICLOPEDICO    DE    LA    LENGUA 

Castellana.     Paris  (Gamier  Hermanos).     2  vols.     $13. 

—  Enciclopedia  Universal  Ilustrada.     Vols.  1-20  inch  and 

20-34  incl-  have  appeared.  Barcelona.  (Jose  Espasa  e 
Hijos,  Editores). 

—  Diccionario     Enciclopedico     Hisp an  0- Americano      de 

Literatura,  Ciencias  y  Artes.  25  vols.  Barcelona, 
(Montaner  y  Simon,  editores). 

Grammars 

—  Ramsey,   M.   M.,  A  Text  Book  of  Modern  Spanish. 

Henry  Holt  &  Co.  1894.  (An  admirable  reference 
grammar.) 

—  Isaza,   Emiliano,   Diccionario  de  la  Conjugacion  Cas- 

tellana.    2d  edition.     Paris.     1900. 

—  Salva,  Don  Vicente,  Gramatica  de  la  Lengua  Castellana 


256  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

segun  ahora  SE  habla.  1 2th  edition.  Paris  (Gamier 
Freres).     1897. 

f—  Bello,  D.  Andres,  and  Cuervo,  R.  J.,  Gramatica  de  la 
Lengua  Castellana  Destinada  al  Uso  de  los  Ameri- 
canos.    Paris  (Roger  and  Chernoviz).     1902. 

%—  Gramatica  de  la  Lengua  Castellana  por  la  Real 
Academia  Espanola.     Nueva  edicion,  Madrid,  1900. 

—  Cuervo,   Rufino  Jose,  Apuntaciones    Critic  as  sobre  el 

Lenguaje  Bogotano  con  Frecuente  Referencia  al  de 
los  Paises  de  Hispano-America.  Quinta  Edicion.  Paris 
(Roger  y  Chernoviz).     1907. 

—  Menendez  Pidal,  Ramon,  Manual  Elemental  de  Grama- 

tica Espanola.  Tercera  Edicion.  Madrid  (Suarez). 
1914. 

—  Becker,  Sarah  Cary,  and  Mora,  Federico,  Spanish  Idioms 

with  THEm  English  Equivalents,  Embracing  nearly 
Ten  Thousand  Phrases.  Boston  (Ginn  &  Co.).  1887. 
£1.80. 

Miscellaneous 

—  Benot,    Eduardo,    Diccionario    de    Ideas   Afines,    etc. 

Similar  to  Rogers  THESAURUS  OF  ENGLISH  WORDS. 
Madrid  (Mariano  Nunez  Samper). 

—  Caballero,   Ramon,  DICCIONARIO  DE  MODISMOS  (FRASES  Y 

Metaforas).     Madrid  (Antonino  Romero). 

—  Benot,  Eduardo,  Prosodia  Castellana  i  Versificacion. 

3  vols.     Madrid  (Juan  Munoz  Sanchez). 

—  Hanssler,  William,  A  Handy  Bibliographical  Guide  to 

the  Study  of  the  Spanish  Language  and  Literature. 
63  pages.     St.  Louis,  Mo.  (C.  Witter).     1915. 

Course  of  Study  in  Spanish  for  High  Schools 

—  A  four  years*  course  in  French  and  Spanish  for  secondary  schools. 

(Revised.)     Berkeley,  University  of  California  Press.     April, 

J9l6' 

1 —  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Five  on  a  Course  of  Study  in  Spanish. 

Presented  December  27,  igiy  in  the  meeting  of  the  Modern 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  AND  OTHER  AIDS  257 

Language  Association  of  America.  Professor  J.  D.  M.  Ford, 
chairman. 
I  —  Report  of  the  Committee  on  a  Standard  Course  of  First  Year 
College  Spanish.  Presented  December  28,  1917  before  the 
Central  Division  of  the  Modern  Language  Association  of 
America.     Professor  J.  D.  Fitz-Geraldy  chairman. 

Newspapers  and  Periodicals  for  Classroom  Use,  or  for 
Outside  Reading 

.  Note  :  For  periodicals  published  abroad  address  The  Inter- 
national News  Co.,  83  Doane  St.,  New  York  City  ;  G.  E. 
Stechert  &  Co.,  155  W.  25th  St.,  New  York  City  ;  Lemcke 
and  Buechner,  30-32  W.  27th  St.,  New  York  City  ;  or  W.  R. 
Jenkins,  Sixth  Avenue  at  48th  St.,  New  York  City,  of  whom 
either  single  copies  or  full  subscriptions  may  be  obtained. 

' — Alrededor  del  Mundo,  an  illustrated  weekly.     $3  a  year. 
Madrid. 

—  El    Nuevo   Mundo,    an   illustrated   weekly.    $3    a   year. 

Madrid. 
i  —  Blanco  y  Negro,  an  illustrated  weekly.    About  £5  a  year. 
Madrid. 

—  Mercurio,    an   illustrated   monthly.     #1.50   a  year.     New 

Orleans,  La.  (Association  of  Commerce  Building). 

—  Latin    America,     English    and     Spanish.      Semi-monthly. 

502  Board  of  Trade  Bldg.,  New  Orleans,  La. 

—  Las    Novedades,    an    illustrated    weekly.     #5    per    year; 

gi.30  for  three  months.  225  West  39th  St.,  New  York 
City.  Considered  by  many  the  best  Spanish  newspaper 
published  in  the  United  States.  It  has  been  used  success- 
fully in  Spanish  classes,  in  which  cases  special  subscription 
prices  obtain. 
\ —  Las  Americas,  illustrated  monthly.  Official  organ  of  the 
Pan  American  States  Association.  Hotel  McAlpin,  New 
York  City.     $3  yearly. 

—  Reference  may  well  be  made  again  to  the  Spanish  editions 

of  the   bulletins   published   by  the  Pan  American  Union, 
Washington,  D.  C. 


258  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH   SCHOOLS 

—  La    Prensa.     Eight-page  weekly.     New    York,  24  Stone   St. 

3  cts.     $2.50  per  year.     Special  price  for  use  in  schools. 
y  —  El  Heraldo.     Four-page  weekly.     New  York,  432  East  71st 
St.     2  cts.     $1  per  year.     Special  price  for  use  in  schools. 

—  El  Grafico.     An  illustrated  monthly.    New  York,  1400  Broad- 

way.    25  cts.     $2.30  per  year. 

—  Caras  y  Caretas.  An  illustrated  weekly.   Buenos  Aires.  About 

$7.     Is  considered  the  best  weekly  of  Argentina. 

—  Revista  Universal.     An  illustrated  monthly.    New  York,  832 

Park  Row  Bldg.  $1.50  per  year.  Special  rates  to  teachers 
and  students. 

—  La  Revista  del  Mundo.   $i  per  year.    Quarterly;  the  Spanish 

edition  of  the  "  World's  Work",  but  does  not  contain  the  same 
articles  as  the  English  magazine.  Doubleday,  Page  &  Com- 
pany, Garden  City,  L.  I. 

—  Inter  America.  $1.50  per  year.  Monthly.  New  York  {Double- 

day,  Page  y  Company).  Half  of  its  issues  are  English 
translations  of  the  leading  articles  in  Spanish- American 
magazines  and  half  are  Spanish  translations  of  the  best 
articles  that  appear  in  the  various  magazines  of  North  America. 
The  English  and  Spanish  issues  alternate. 

—  The  Pictorial   Review.     Spanish  edition.     An  illustrated 

monthly.     New  York,  214  West  39th  St.     25  cts.     $2.50  per 
year. 
* —  La  Esfera.     An  illustrated  weekly.     Madrid.     $6. 

—  Hojas  Selectas.     An  illustrated  monthly.     Barcelona. 

—  Zig-Zag.     An  illustrated  weekly.     Santiago  de  Chile. 

—  El  Mundo  Grafico.    An  illustrated  weekly.     Madrid. 

—  The  Philippine  Review.    An  illustrated  monthly.    Manila, 

P.  I.     $4.     Printed  in  English  and  Spanish. 

—  Puerto  Rico  Ilustrado.     An  illustrated  weekly.     San  Juan 

{Real  Hermanos).     $3. 

—  El  Figaro.     An  illustrated  weekly.     Havana,  Cuba. 

—  Cuba    Contemporanea.     An    illustrated    weekly.     Havana. 

—  Pegaso.     An  illustrated  weekly.     Mexico,  D.  F.  {Calle  Cinco 

de  Mayo).     $8. 

—  Espana.     A  weekly.     Madrid  {Calle  del  Prado).     Ptas  12. 

A  good  review  of  political  and  literary  matters. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  AND  OTHER  AIDS  259 

\  — La  Ilustracion  Espanola  e  Hispano-Americana.  An 
illustrated  weekly.  Madrid  (Sagasta  if).  Ptas  50.  Very 
conservative. 

—  Nuestro  Tiempo.     Madrid  (Marques  de  Riscal).     Ptas  30. 

A  very  solid  review,  much  favored  by  the  well  educated  people  of 
Spain. 

—  I B erica.     Weekly.     Tortosa,    Spain.      Ptas  30.      The   lead- 

ing scientific  journal  of  Spain. 

—  The  South  American  and  El  Norteamericano,  both  pub- 

lished by  the  same  company,  at  165  Broadway,  New  York. 
$1.50  each.  The  first  is  published  in  English  and  gives 
articles  descriptive  of  Latin  America.  The  second  is  printed 
in  Spanish  and  contains  informational  articles  about  English- 
speaking  America.     Both  are  well  illustrated. 

Illustrated  Albums,  Richly  Illustrated  Books,  Etc. 

S  —  Huntington,  A.  M.,  A  Note-Book  of  Northern  Spain. 

New  York  (Putnam's).    1898.     $3.50.     Delightfully  written 

and  beautifully  illustrated,  with  a  remarkable  chapter  on  a 

Spanish  bull-fight. 
•    — Wood,  C.  W.,  The  Romance  of  Spain.    London  (Mac- 

millan).     1900.     #3.50. 
(  —  Wood,  C.  W.,  The  Glories  of  Spain.    London  (Macmillan). 

1901.    £3.50. 

—  Williams,    Leonard,   The   Land    of   the   Dons.     London 

(Cassell).     1903.     #4. 

—  Williams,  Leonard,  Toledo  and  Madrid.    London  (Cassell). 

1903.  12  sh.  6  d. 
/  —  The  following  books  by  A.  F.  Calvert,  known  as  the  SPANISH 
Series,  are  extremely  useful.  Each  volume  consists  of 
about  half  text  and  the  remainder  of  excellent  half-tones, 
numbering  several  hundred.  The  price  per  volume,  ex- 
cept the  last,  is  gi.25.  The  list  follows  :  Alhambra  of 
Granada  ;  Cordova  ;  El  Greco  ;  Goya  ;  Le6n,  Burgos 
and  Salamanca  ;  Madrid  ;  Murillo  ;  Royal  Palaces 
in  Spain  ;  The  Escorial  ;  The  Prado  ;  Toledo  ;  Ve- 
lasquez ;  Valladolid,  Oviedo,  Segovia,  Zamora,  Avila, 
and  Saragossa.    The  Moorish  Remains  in  Spain  is  £15. 


260  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

The  publishers  are  the  John  Lane  Co.  of  New  York  and 
London. 

—  Sanpere   y   Miguel,    Salvador,   Historia  del  Lujo.    Two 

volumes.     Barcelona,  1886.     Vol.  I  treats  of  all  civilized 
countries  ;  Vol.  II  of  Europe,  especially  Spain. 

Pictures,  Photographs,  and  Post  Cards 
Spain 

—  Hauser  y  Menet,  Ballesta  30,  Madrid.     Send  for  catalogue. 

I  —  Ralph  P.  Stineman,  801  Timken  Buildings  San  Diego,  Cat., 
has  some  excellent  photographic  plates  of  buildings  and 
bridges  of  Spain  and  can  print  these  off  in  any  size  desired 
for  framing. 

Argentina 

—  Marcelino  Bordoi9   Venezuela  1554.,  Buenos  Aires, 

Posters 

I      — Julian  Palaciosy  Calle  del  Arenal  2J>  Madrid.     Can  supply 
posters  of  fairs  and  bull  fights. 

Pictures  for  Conversational  Drill 

■  —  The  Pictorial  Spanish  Course  by  R.  Torres,  published  by 
Little,  Brown  &  Co.  of  Boston,  Mass.  (65  cents),  has 
proved  its  worth  because  of  its  use  of  pictures  for  conver- 
sational drill. 

Songs 

There  is  a  great  lack  of  available  collections  of  Spanish  songs 
suited  to  clubs  of  American  students.  With  the  growing  de- 
mand for  Spanish,  some  one  should  fill  this  need  soon.  The  only 
titles  that  are  available  are  : 

—  Modern  Spanish  Lyrics,  by  E.  C.  Hills  and  S.  J.  Morley. 

£1.25.    Henry  Holt.    1913.    This  has  the  music  often  songs. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  AND   OTHER  AIDS  261 

—  Elementary  Spanish  Reader,  by  A.  M.  Espinosa.    90  cts. 

Benj.  H.  Sanborn.    1916.     With  music  of  four  folk  songs. 

—  Rodriguez  Marin,  Cantos  Populares  Espanoles.    $2.00. 

—  Canciones  Populares.     Books  I  and  II.     Silvery  Burden  13 

Company.     About  40  cts.  each. 

—  First  Spanish  Reader,  by  Roessler  13  Remy.     68  cents. 

American  Book  Company.     1916.     This  has  the  words  and 
music  of  five  songs. 
I  —  Espana  PlNTORESCA,  by  Carolina  Marcial  Dorado.     Ginn  t$ 
Co.  191 7. ^Contains  the  words  and  music  of  nine  Spanish  songs. 

Books  for  Children 

I  —  CUENTOS  DE  Calleja,  en  color es.  Two  series;  one,  5  pesetas 
each;  the  other  2  pesetas.  Beautifully  illustrated.  Madrid 
(Casa  Editorial  Calleja). 

Games 

—  A  resourceful  teacher  can  readily  adapt  English  or  American 

games  to  the  atmosphere  of  the  language  desired.  An 
excellent  book  full  of  valuable  suggestions  is  Jessie  Hubbell 
Bancroft's  Games  for  the  Playground,  Home,  School 
and  Gymnasium.  Illustrated,  New  York  (Macmillan). 
$1.50. 
/ — Of  smaller  compass  is  Mari  Ruef  Hofer's  Popular  Folk 
Games  and  Dances,  for  Playground,  Vacation  and 
Schoolroom  Use.     56  pages.     Chicago  (A.   Flanagan). 

—  Divided  proverbs.     (English  proverbs  and  their  equivalents 

in  German,  French  and  Spanish.)       50  cts.      William   R. 
Jenkins  Co.,  Sixth  Ave.  at  48th  St.,  New  York  City. 

I  —  See  Hints  on  Spanish  Club  Work  and  Games  in  Easy  Spanish 

Plays,  by  Ruth  Henry.     Allyn  13  Bacon.     1917. 

A  crying  need  for  our  Spanish  clubs  is  a  variety  of  card  games. 

It  is  hoped  that  some  publishing  house  may  before  long  issue  a 

few  Spanish  card  games,  such  as  Spanish  authors  and  history  and 

geography  games. 


262  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

School  Theatricals 

The  list  of  available  Spanish  plays  is  not  long,  as  yet,  but 
there  will  doubtless  soon  be  an  increased  publication  of  such 
material,  to  meet  the  growing  demand.  The  following  have 
been  given  with  success  : 

—  Despues  de  la  Lluvia  el  Sol.     i  act.     R.  D.  Cortina  Co. 

(12  East  46  St.,  New  York).     1914. 

—  Tres  Comedias  Modernas.     1  act  each.     Edited  by  F.  W. 

Morrison.  Henry  Holt  &  Co.  1909.  These  are  :  La 
Muela  del  Juicio  by  M.  R.  Carrion  ;  Las  Solteronas 
by  Luis  Cocat  y  Heliodoro  Criado  ;  Los  Pantalones  by 
Mariano  Barranco. 

—  Zaragueta  by  Miguel  Ramos  Carrion  y  Vital  Aza.     2  acts. 

Edited  by  G.  C.  Howland.     Silver,  Burdett  &  Co.     1901. 

—  Other  plays  that  have  been  given  at  the  University  of  Kansas 

are  :  El  Sueno  Dorado  by  Carrion  and  Aza  ;  El  Senor 
Cura  by  Vital  Aza. 
The  W.  R.  Jenkins  Company  (Sixth  Avenue  at  48th  St.,  New 
York)    published    under   the   title  Teatro   Espanol   the 
following  : 

—  La  Independence,  by  Don  Manuel  Breton  de  los  Herreros. 

4  acts.     A  bright,  lively  comedy. 

—  El  Desden  con  el  Desd£n,  by  Don  Agustin  Moreto   y 

Cabana.     3  acts.     Charming  but  difficult. 

—  Un  Drama  Nuevo,  by  Don  Joaquin  Estebanez.     3  acts.     A 

powerful  tragedy  requiring  marked  histrionic  talent. 

—  SAbado  sin  Sol,  by  Alvarez  Quintero,  in  Espinosa's  Ele- 

mentary Spanish  Reader.  Benj.  H.  Sanborn  &  Co. 
This  is  a  playlet.  The  same  firm  announces  Dos  Comedias 
Contemporaneas,  to  be  edited  by  Caroline  B.  Bourland. 

—  Dona   Clarines,  comedia  en  dos  ados,  by  Serafin  y  Joaquin 

Alvarez  Quintero,  edited  by  S.  G.  Morley.  D.  C.  Heath  y 
Co.  1015.  50  cts.  In  the  same  volume  is  the  delightful 
paso  de  comedia  Man  ana  de  Sol  by  the  same  authors  and 
prepared  by  the  same  editor. 

—  Easy  Spanish  Plays,  by  Ruth  Henry.     Eight  short  plays  pre- 

pared  especially  for   presentation   by   students   of   Spanish. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  AND  OTHER  AIDS  -    263 

Well  adapted  for  high  school  Spanish  clubs.  Allyn  &  Bacon, 
1917.     About  60  cts. 

El  Trovador,  by  Gutierrez,  edited  by  H.  H.  Vaughan.  D.  C. 
Heath  &  Co.  1908.  This  play,  the  original  of  Verdi* s 
famous  opera,  II  Trovatore,  was  presented  in  the  spring  of 
191J  by  the  Spanish  club  of  the  Westport  High  School  of 
Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Espana  Pintoresca,  by  Carolina  Marcial  Dorado.  Ginn  & 
Co.  1917.  Contains  a  comedy  suitable  for  presentation  in 
school:  fsCastillos  de  Torresnobles" ,  written  by  Miss  Marcial. 


Phonograph  Records 

The  Columbia  Graphophone  Company,  Woolworth  Building, 
New  York  City,  publishes  a  very  large  catalogue  of  the  records 
of  Spanish  music  which  are  sold  by  it. 

The  Victor  Talking  Machine  Company,  Camden,  N.  J.,  pub' 
lishes  three  catalogues  of  Spanish  music,  one  containing 
records  of  the  music  of  Spain,  another  listing  Cuban  selec- 
tions, and  the  third  giving  Mexican  selections. 

The  Cortinaphone  language  records  and  the  records  and  method 
sold  by  the  Language  Phone  school  are  of  aid  to  the  inexperienced 
teacher  of  Spanish  and  can  also  be  used  as  an  aid  or  accessory 
to  class  work.  Send  for  catalogues  to  the  New  York  City  offices 
of  these  companies.  The  Cortina  Academy  of  Languages  is 
at  12  East  4.6th  Street,  and  The  Language  Phone  Method  may 
be  addressed  at  2  West  4.5th  Street.  The  International  Corre- 
spondence Schools  of  Scranton,  Pa.,  also  have  for  sale  a  good 
set  of  records  and  method  for  instruction  in  Spanish  by  means 
of  the  phonograph. 

Maps 

D.  Appleton  &  Company  publish  maps  of  South  and  Central 
America  with  names  given  in  Spanish,  and  supply  a  catalogue 
of  these  maps. 

The  Phillips  Wall  Atlas  sold  by  C.  S.  Hammond  fef  Co.,  New 
York  City,  is  an  excellent  set  of  8  maps  showing  political, 


264  SPANISH  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

physical,  climatic,  and  other  features  of  South  America.     Price 

$14. 
—  It  is  suggested  that  students  draw  their  own  maps  of  Spain  and 

Spanish- American  countries,  writing  in  the  names  of  places, 

rivers  and  mountains,  etc.,  in  Spanish. 
— ■  Many  of  the  latest  readers  are  provided  with  good  maps  of  these 

countries,  and  these  may  be  used  as  the  basis  for  a  geography 

lesson  conducted  in  Spanish. 


Bibliography  on  the  Junior  High  School 

\  —  The  Fifteenth  Yearbook  of  the  National  Society  for 
the  Study  of  Education.  Part  III,  The  Junior  High 
School,  by  Aubrey  Augustus  Douglass,  Bloomington,  III. 
{The  Public  School  Publishing  Co.).  IQ16.  J 5  cts.  An 
authoritative  and  detailed  discussion  of  the  Junior  High  School 
as  established  in  various  cities.  Contains  abundant  bibliog- 
raphy on  all  phases  of  the  question.  Pages  60,  70,  and  71 
contain  a  discussion  of  the  place  of  foreign  languages  in  this 
type  of  school. 


ADDENDUM 

On   February   15,    1918,   the   registration   in  the 
various  languages  was  as  follows : 


Terms 

i 

ii 

iii 

iv 

V 

vi 

vii 

viii 

TOTAl 

French 

6539 

3981 

2458 

2332 

956 

851 

102 

124 

17,343 

German 

1097 

2389 

2935 

27CK 

I6l6 

1636 

281; 

293 

12,956 

Italian 

— 

23 

— 

26 

— 

7 

— 

<6 

Latin 

3706 

3270 

2851 

2365 

1823 

165S 

382 

424 

16,478 

Spanish 

10,309 

5875 

2958 

1567 

533 

376 

77 

76 

21,771 

The  total  enrollment  of  pupils  in  the  High  Schools 
on  February  28,  191 8,  was  68,028. 


265 


FOURTEEN  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 


This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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